Shooting Star
by GenkiPlus
Summary: Ryou's life is changed forever when someone gets to know him. And what is this? Yami Bakura thinks different about it? A new enemy is determined to see the end of Ryou's life.
1. Chapter I

This is the first chapter of my newest fiction. It will be called "Shooting Star." I just got this idea after reading what my best friend, Nuriko Metallium wrote in the latest chapter of her one fiction called "It All Started With Babysitting." Go read it, it is very good. We all love you, Nurrri! :D *claps* Of course, there is an original character in here. But my original characters aren't always too bad. I have written fics for Zoids: Guardian Force. I wrote Twilight, and it's sequel, Only You. I am currently still working on Only You. It seems to be a little more developed than Twilight was. So, yeah.  
  
Nuri: I got you started writing Yu-Gi-Oh fics!  
  
Kenji: I know. :D I am so evil.  
  
Thomas: You are. Bad Blonde Girl. Bad!  
  
Kenji: Who are you calling blonde? Can't you tell that my hair is white? *glare*  
  
Nuri: Of course not. It is Ryou hair!  
  
Kenji: And I did not try it. I was born with white hair. *peace sign* Roar.  
  
  
  
I hope you enjoy this first chapter. I won't have my original character Adelai "Kenji" Christensen appear right away. And yes, my character is from America. She just happens to be friends with Tea/Anzu. Her real name is Adelai, but since that name is really, eh, corny, everybody calls her Kenji. So yes, enjoy this chapter, and review! Reviews are always great!  
  
And you all know that I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, or anything in it. I am a poor Senior in High School who has a really crummy job as a tour guide. So yes, the only thing I own is Adelai. Enjoy. Flames will be nuked.  
  
Shooting Star  
  
Chapter One - The End of the Beginning  
  
"School! Why does it have to start so soon?" Tea Gardner grumbled to herself as she walked down the stairs of her house. She did not want to go back to school so quickly. She was just beginning to enjoy having so much free time on her hands so she could spend most of that time with all of her friends.  
  
"Tea, dear. Could you please come in here for a moment?" It was Tea's mother. She was obviously calling from the kitchen. Tea didn't know what her mom could have wanted. Tea didn't do anything wrong, at least, she did not think so.  
  
"There you are. I have been trying to get your attention for the past ten minutes. You sleep too late." Her mother rambled on, "But, now that I have your attention, I thought that I would tell you that Adelai is coming back." She told her daughter.  
  
"Really? I thought they were staying in America all summer?" Tea asked her mother.  
  
"I thought so too. But I believe that her father wanted to get back so he could get back to work." She told Tea.  
  
"When are they coming back?" Tea asked again.  
  
"I do think they should be back in the next few days." Her mother told her.  
  
"Alright. Hey, I should get going. I promised everybody that I would meet them at the shop in a few minutes. I can't be late. Besides, they will all be happy to hear about Kenji being back." Tea smiled as she ran to the door to leave.  
  
"What do you mean, Kenji?" Tea's mother asked her.  
  
"Oh. Well, we gave Adelai that name. She never liked her name, so she has adopted the name Kenji. Her parents even call her that. Bye, Mom!" And with those words, Tea was out the door and down the street on her way to the shop.  
  
****  
  
"Ah, Yuugi! You beat me again!" Joey sighed as he threw down his cards on the table.  
  
"Come on, Joey. You are getting better!" Yuugi told his friend.  
  
"It sure doesn't look like I am." Joey sat back in his chair and put his arms behind his head, "Hey, Wasn't Tea supposed to be here just a few minutes ago?"  
  
"I think so." Ryou told them as he just caught glimpse of the brunette walking through the shop door at that moment, "Never mind. She is not missing in action." He laughed silently to himself.  
  
"What took you so long, Tea?" Tristan asked his friend.  
  
"Sorry. My mom kept me for a while. But, I do have some good news! Kenji is coming back early!" Tea told her friends.  
  
Kenji was coming back? And already? It seems like she just left for America yesterday. It was weird. Kenji sure did spend a lot of time in America. Of course, she was born in America. But now, her family lived in Japan. Only because of what her father did for work. If it was not for him, Ryou would have never met Adelai. When he first saw her, he knew he was in love, he just never told anybody. But he was never good at hiding his emotions. So everybody knew about it, except for Kenji.  
  
"Why so soon?" Ryou asked Tea to cover up the awkward silence.  
  
"Oh. Her father had to get back to work, I guess .But other than that, I am not sure why they would come back so soon." Tea answered.  
  
"Yeah. School does not start for another week. Kenji usually spends the entire summer in America." Joey mentioned.  
  
"True. So, Ryou. When are you ever going to tell Kenji?" Yuugi spoke as he poked Ryou lightly on the arm.  
  
"Tell her what?" Ryou asked nervously.  
  
"That you really like her!" Tea chirped, "I am pretty sure that she likes you, too!" Tea grinned at her friends.  
  
"Are you sure?" Tristan asked Tea.  
  
"She might have mentioned it to me once before." Tea smiled innocently.  
  
"I can't tell her. No matter what." Ryou said firmly to his friends as he crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
"Fine, be sour. Just don't you come crying to me when somebody takes Kenji away from you." Tea said as she turned away from her friends.  
  
"Listen, Tea. I am very sorry. But I do not think Kenji really needs to hear about this right when she gets back. This was her first time in America, since, well you know. She might be a little upset about it." Ryou said.  
  
"You are right. But you have to promise me you will tell her, at least sometime." Tea said.  
  
"Promise." Ryou told her.  
  
"Besides, there is no telling when and if they might move again." Joey commented.  
  
"True," Yuugi started, "They have moved a lot before, haven't they?" Yuugi finished.  
  
"Yeah, they did, didn't they? Where was Kenji born anyways? I forget." Joey asked.  
  
"In Pennsylvania. In the United States." Ryou answered immediately.  
  
"Ah hah! I knew it! You really do like her!" Tea pointed a finger at Ryou's face, which was turning a light shade of purple.  
  
"What? Just because I know where she was born?" Ryou asked innocently to his friends.  
  
"Of course. I even forgot where she was born. You know you like her." Tea teased.  
  
"Tea. Just drop it, please?" Yuugi asked her politely.  
  
"Fine. Whatever you say." Tea said as she sat down in a chair to watch Joey and Yuugi have a rematch in Duel Monsters.  
  
****  
  
  
  
School was going to start in less than one week, and it was then back to reality. School really took the fun out of most things. Well, make that everything. Tea was always sad that whenever summer vacation started, she knew she would be the only girl hanging around. Only because Kenji's parents took her to America for the entire summer. Tea was jealous of her best friend. She had always wanted to go to America with her best friend. And Kenji had promised her that someday they would go to America together. Tea knew she would keep her promise. Wouldn't she?  
  
****  
  
Tea walked downstairs and immediately stopped at the sound of voices. Two of the voices she recognized as her parents, but the other two she could not make out directly. No wait! Adelai's parents! But what were they doing here? Tea knew that they were back from their trip, but just didn't know why they were at her very house.  
  
"It is very nice to have you back." Tea's mother's voice could be heard from the kitchen.  
  
"Thank you. It is very nice to be back." Mrs. Christensen replied.  
  
"So, how was your trip?" Mr. Gardner asked.  
  
"Everything was fine, until Adelai had a run in with an old friend." Mr. Christensen said.  
  
"Oh, what happened?" Mrs. Gardner asked.  
  
"Adelai just got into a little fight, that is all. She just broke her wrist." Mrs. Christensen said to them.  
  
"How?" Mr. Gardner asked the other couple.  
  
"She got in a fight with a very old friend." They replied.  
  
"Oh! That is terrible. What started this fight?" Mrs. Gardner asked.  
  
"We are not sure exactly. But the other girl thought Adelai did something she did not and well, they got into a fight. When we found them, Adelai had a broken wrist, and the other girl had a black eye." Mrs. Christensen told both of them.  
  
Kenji got into a fight? How was that possible? Tea knew Kenji very well, since she has known her since she first moved to Japan when they were both twelve. And they were both sixteen right now. Tea knew Kenji to be one of the nicest people around. And that was a rare thing. Kenji hated to get into fights. But if someone were picking on one of her friends, she would not hesitate to get into a fight. But other than that, Tea had no idea what would have put Kenji into a fight. And she broke her wrist? That is not good at all. Kenji always played tennis for the school. How was she going to play with a broken wrist? Tea had to get some answers. So she walked into the kitchen where the adults were sitting around the small kitchen table.  
  
"Kenji got into a fight?" Tea asked the adults.  
  
"Yes. But it was nothing serious." Mrs. Christensen told Tea.  
  
"Nothing serious? She broke her wrist! How will she play tennis now?" Tea fumed.  
  
"I hadn't thought of that. I am not sure about that yet. We will think of something." Mr. Christensen told her.  
  
"Sure. I am going. I will be back later." Tea mumbled as she walked out of the front door and made her way to Yuugi's grandfather's card shop.  
  
Tea knew the others would be very surprised when she told them about Kenji actually getting into a fight. She walked straight into the shop to see Yuugi and Joey battling it out again over Duel Monsters.  
  
"I win!" Yuugi said as he saw Joey throw down his cards in defeat.  
  
"I give up." Joey grumbled.  
  
"Come on, Joey!" Tristan said.  
  
"Yeah. You will get better." Ryou patted Joey on the back.  
  
"Oh, Hello, Tea." Yuugi said as he saw her walk into the shop.  
  
"Guys, you will never believe what I have to say!" Tea said as she sat down in one of the chairs.  
  
"What?" Yuugi asked. Everyone had a curious look on their face as they saw Tea sit down.  
  
"It's Kenji. She's back. And well, her parents were at my house talking. Kenji got into a fight!" Tea told them, completely out of breath from running all the way from her house.  
  
"She what?" Joey spat.  
  
"She got into a fight?" Yuugi asked.  
  
"Yes. And well, she broke her wrist in that fight." Tea mumbled the last part.  
  
"What?! Is she okay?" Ryou asked immediately.  
  
"From what I know, she should be. She wasn't at my house with her parents. So she must be at home." Tea told them.  
  
"Come on. Let's go see how she is doing!" Yuugi told them as he stood up and walked over to the door, "Are you guys coming or what?" He asked his friends.  
  
"Yes." They all replied as they walked out of the shop doors and down the street.  
  
To Be Continued. :D  
  
Hehe. Yeah. I do believe that chapter was very, uh, not great. I wrote it very fast. Considering I have loads of homework to do before tomorrow. *stares at Nuriko* How can you call upperclassmen scary? *is an upperclassmen* ;-; How sad.  
  
Thomas: Yes! You are old!  
  
Kenji: *glare* Shut up. I know. My chorus teacher told me so.  
  
George: Didn't he call you something else before?  
  
Kenji: Yes. When I was fourteen, he called me "Vertically Challenged."  
  
Miroku: *snicker*  
  
Kenji: I know, I am short! Leave me alone. ;-;  
  
Nuriko: Bad Bishies. Bad! *thwap*  
  
Thomas: I didn't do it!  
  
Kenji: Go back to Savannah and Erin. I still need to finish that story!  
  
Thomas: Yes, you do. I have to see my children!*grin*  
  
Miroku: What? You are having a child? Why won't anybody bear my child?!  
  
Kenji: I do believe Malik would be happy to bear your child, Miroku. *grins*  
  
Nuriko: *giggle*  
  
Malik: What? What did I do now?  
  
Hah. Yeah. Messed up. Woot. Okay. Off to the second chapter. Which should be out very soon considering I have no life besides school. And I have no study halls to write this in. I will find time to do it sometime. Whenever I am not practicing for chorus. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And don't forget to review! No flames. :D 


	2. Chapter II

This is the second chapter of Shooting Star. I am so proud of myself for working on this, and two other fan fictions. Plus that, and juggling all of the homework that I have to do, and memorizing music for Hempfield Singers. What fun for me. School is really starting to get to me. I don't like it so very much. Too much stuff to do. But, I am working on it. Don't worry. Yes. You finally meet my OC in this chapter! W00t! Ven got me into saying that. X_x It is so sad! So yeah. I need some sleep. Just a tad note, Kenji here seems to have gotten a nasty cold from her friend, JenJen. *glares* So, she will not be able to update for a while since she has taken too much medicine in the past few hours.  
  
George: You do. You fell out of your seat in PES today.  
  
Kenji: I know. It hurt too.  
  
Miroku: o_o;  
  
Thomas: I told you to sleep last night. But did you listen to me? Noooo.  
  
Kenji: Well soooorrry. Mister. Geez. I was too busy watching TV. ^^v  
  
Ryou Bakura: God, Help us.  
  
So, enjoy this chapter. While I try and get rid of my headache after bashing my head on a chair in PES. Feel so happy for me.  
  
Shooting Star  
  
Chapter 2 - Excuses  
  
"Why do you think Kenji got into that fight?" Joey asked the others as they were walking down one of the small walkways which lead to Kenji's house. Her parents were still with Tea's parents, so they knew they would have enough time to find out what was really going on with their friend.  
  
"I don't know. But, we have to find out with whom, first." Tea told them as they walked up the brick path towards their friends house. Tea knocked on the door, and a few seconds later, the door was then opened by a young girl who looked no older than five.  
  
"Liesl! Hi! Where is Adelai?" Tea asked the young girl whom had her hair up in tiny pigtails.  
  
"Upstairs. Probably complaining about her classes again. She has been doing it all summer." Liesl mumbled as she led the way up to her older sisters bedroom and knocked on the door.  
  
"Addy, your friends are here." The brunette said as she peaked open the doorway.  
  
"Hold on. I will be right out." Adelai said.  
  
Only but a few seconds later, Kenji was standing out in the hallway. Kenji wasn't very tall. She looked to be only about five foot two inches tall, and her arms were also very short. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the back of her head. And on her left wrist, was a white cast that went all the way to her elbow.  
  
"I am so glad you are back!" Tea said as she hugged her short friend.  
  
"Great to have you back finally, Kenji!" Yuugi smiled at his friend.  
  
"I guess I am glad to be back. Better than being home." Kenji managed to put a smile on her face. She then had her eyes wander over to Ryou. He was looking at her, and she knew why. Well, more like she had no clue why he was looking at her. So she quickly moved her eyes off of him and onto an opposite wall.  
  
"How did you break your wrist?" Joey asked as if he had no idea what happened. He did not want Kenji to know that they had found out before she had wanted them to know.  
  
"Oh. A fight." Kenji smiled slightly.  
  
"With who?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"Oh, nobody that you would know. She was just one of my friends before. And well, we kind of lost touch after I moved here. And well, I guess I did something that pissed her off and we got into a huge fight." Kenji told them.  
  
"Well, the important thing is that you are alright." Ryou said to her.  
  
"I guess so." Adelai mumbled to her friends.  
  
"What is wrong?" Tea noticed her friends' voice tone and asked her curiously.  
  
"Oh, nothing. I just don't want school to start. That is all." She managed to smile. That really was not what was bugging her, but she didn't want the others to know anything.  
  
"Yeah, school. I don't want to think about that right now." Joey said as he stuck his tongue out at the thought of being back at Domino High School.  
  
"Come on. School can't be that bad for you all." Tea told them.  
  
"Oh, but it is! Learning is so hard on the brain." Joey grinned to his friends.  
  
"Well, we know everything is hard on the brain for you, Joey. But not for everybody else." Tristan told his friend. And everybody else laughed.  
  
"Come on! That is not funny! You guys!" Joey yelled.  
  
****  
  
The end of the month rolled around, and it was that time of the year again. For everybody to get themselves back into school. This part of the year was every parents dream, and every kid's nightmare. Nobody really wanted to go back, but everybody also knew that they had to go back sooner or later.  
  
"Adelai! You are going to be late for school! Hurry up!" Mrs. Christensen called from the bottom of the stairs.  
  
"I am almost ready!" Kenji yelled from the top of the stairs.  
  
"Just make sure you hurry up! Tea and your friends said they would be here shortly!" Her mother yelled back as she began to start breakfast for her other children, Liesl and Monica.  
  
"Coming!" Kenji said as she got herself dressed and she grabbed her bag and quickly ran down the stairs, "Are they here yet?" She asked her mother as she grabbed an apple from the kitchen table.  
  
"No, not yet." She told her daughter.  
  
"Wait! Addy! They are here!" Kenji's younger sister Monica shouted when she got up to check out one of the front windows.  
  
"Alright! Bye, Mom!" Kenji yelled as she finished her quick breakfast, quickly put her shoes on and ran out the door to greet her friends.  
  
"Kenji!" Ryou waved as she ran towards everybody.  
  
"Hey. Sorry I was a bit late. I couldn't find my bag." Kenji smiled as they all began to walk towards the school.  
  
"It is alright." Tea smiled at her friend as they made their way to Domino High School.  
  
The walk to school was simply quiet. Nobody was in the mood to talk. Everyone was also still tired from the night before. And it looked like nobody got any sleep whatsoever. The group walked into the building to find out what classes they had, and if they had any together.  
  
"Wait, what homeroom are you guys in?" Tea asked the others.  
  
"I'm not sure. But I am up on the third floor somewhere. Anybody else up there?" Yuugi asked everybody else.  
  
"I think I'm up there." Kenji told him.  
  
"Me, too." Ryou said.  
  
"Alright, let's go see what we have! See you guys later." The three said as they began to walk upstairs together.  
  
"Bye!" Tea said as she was stuck behind with Tristan and Joey. She sounded thrilled with it.  
  
****  
  
"Blah. I don't want to be here. Not one bit." Kenji mumbled as they all walked into the same homeroom. It was surprising that they were mostly together since they were never together in homeroom before. The school decided to change things a bit this school year.  
  
"Wow." Yuugi said as he looked down at his schedule. "I wonder if anybody will be in any of my classes?" He asked himself.  
  
"Lemme see." Kenji said as she took his schedule and matched it with her very own schedule. "Well, I think we have a few things together at least. Well, I mean we have History and Math together. And Japanese." She told him.  
  
Ryou peeked over her shoulder do see Kenji's schedule. "Wow. We have English and Chorus together, at least." He told her.  
  
"We do?" She asked him in surprise.  
  
"Yes." He smiled at her.  
  
"That is good!" Kenji grinned at her friend.  
  
"You are in chorus, too Ryou? I had no idea you could sing." Yuugi asked his white haired friend.  
  
"Well, I never told anybody now did I?" Ryou told him.  
  
"I am sure you are a very good singer, Ryou. Really." Kenji told her friend.  
  
"Yeah. You should sing for us!" Yuugi begged his friend.  
  
"No! I really. don't want to sing right now." Ryou stuttered slightly. He really only joined the school's chorus because he knew that Adelai would join it. Well, he knew that she had been in it for some years now and he just wanted to be near her. And he knew he would not have so many classes with her since she was taking higher classes than he was.  
  
****  
  
It was close to lunchtime, and the chorus class had gathered around the auditorium stage to begin the class. Their chorus instructor assigned that a certain amount of people at a time come into his office and try out for their vocal part. And the rest of the class could do whatever they wanted. Well, almost whatever they wanted to do. They had to make it look as though they were doing some sort of work.  
  
The first group of people were already in the instructors office and Ryou and Kenji were off sitting by themselves in the auditorium seats talking to each other.  
  
"I always hate this part of chorus." Kenji shuddered in her seat.  
  
"How come?" Ryou asked her concerning the shuddering she was doing.  
  
"Oh. Just the auditions. I hate singing in front of others." She frowned at him.  
  
"Come on, you are really good you know? Don't worry about it." Ryou assured her.  
  
"You have never heard me sing. So how would you know if I was good or not?" Kenji asked him with an odd look on her face.  
  
"I just know. Believe in yourself." Ryou told her. Now if only he could believe in himself and gather up enough courage to tell her how he really felt about her.  
  
"Ryou?" Kenji asked him.  
  
"What is it?: He asked her.  
  
"Can I tell you something?" Kenji mumbled quietly.  
  
"Sure, anything." Ryou said. Oh no. What was she going to say? He really did not want to hear whatever it was she was going to tell him.  
  
To Be Continued! :D  
  
Yeah. Sorry this is kind of short. I was being rushed by my dad to clean stuff up so I had to finish this up pretty quickly. So yeah. The next chapter should be up sometime next week. Since I am too lazy to do anything else this weekend except some homework and sleeping. People keep telling me to get some rest since I got sick again.  
  
Nuriko: Yes, I told you to go to bed!  
  
Kenji: I know. ;-; But I want to make that shirt! *sniffle*  
  
Thomas: *thwaps* Finish my story!  
  
Kenji: *bites him* Stop it! I will finish it whenever I am good and ready to!  
  
Thomas: *runs away crying*  
  
Miroku: Haha! Stupid Thomas.  
  
George: It is about time you did something about him, Lady Kenji.  
  
Kenji: Lady Kenji? O_o;  
  
Nuriko: *shrugs*  
  
George: I can get rid of him for you?  
  
Kenji: Nah. He said he was going to go beat up one of my friends for me. And I will let him do that since she did not take me home the other day. *grins*  
  
Nuriko: Hah. Thomas is evil now.  
  
Kenji: No, he is not. I just gave him a few cookies and he went insane.  
  
Miroku: Baaad Kenji. I want a cookie!  
  
Yeah. Thomas is being bad again, Shelly. He is too excited about the twin's arrival. Which should be coming up very shortly! After I recover from this nasty cold and watch some more Weiss Kreuz. Okay. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to review! Make me feel better by reviewing this! :D 


	3. Chapter III

This is the third chapter of Shooting Star. There is a very important issue in this chapter. Dealing with 9-11. And, for everyone, that was a very challenging day. For everybody, it was. I have cousins who live in Lower Manhattan and when I found out about the attacks last year, I was freaking out. I had not found out about the attacks until about 10:30 am and when I did.. it was horrible. Nobody was talking. Most of us were crying. I would like to dedicate this chapter to anybody who has lost a family member or friend in the terrorist attacks of 9-11. Even though I did not lose someone who I knew directly, I still feel great pain for those who did. America Is United.  
  
Shooting Star  
  
Chapter 3 - Home of the Brave  
  
"What did you want to ask me?" Ryou asked Adelai curiously.  
  
"Well. Uhm, I guess I kind of like somebody. But, I am not sure exactly how to tell them." She started to say, "Oh wait. Just forget about it. It's nothing too important." Adelai finished when she pulled out one of her books and buried her face into it.  
  
"You like somebody?" Ryou asked her softly. Was he too late? He knew it. He was too late. Adelai had already found somebody else to love. And it wasn't him.  
  
"Really. It's not that important. Just forget about it." She said as she still had her nose buried in the book.  
  
"Please, will you tell me?" He asked her quietly.  
  
Adelai lifted the book from her face and looked over at Ryou. He looked so sincere. I guess she just couldn't help it. She knew she would have to tell him sooner or later. Better now than later?  
  
"It's you, Ryou. I really like you." She said softly.  
  
"Me?" He asked, his eyes wide.  
  
The two spent the next few seconds just staring into each other's faces. What was going on here? They seemed to stare into each others eyes for what seemed like forever, until they were finally interrupted by their instructor.  
  
"Adelai! Time for your audition! Get into my office and we can start with the scales!" He told her as he saw her get up and with one last look back at Ryou, she quickly ran into his office and closed the door behind her quietly.  
  
"I blew it." Ryou sighed as he slid down into the auditorium seat and closed his eyes. What happened there? Ryou knew he had had feelings for Kenji for what seemed like forever. Well, at least since he had first met her when her parents moved here two years ago. He remembers the first time he met her. He was sitting in his English class when their instructor announced that they were getting a new student.  
  
*cue flashback sequence*  
  
"Everyone. We are getting a new student today." Mr. Moore said to his class.  
  
Everyone in the room immediately started to mumble to their neighbors about the new student. It wasn't everyday that they got somebody new into their ranks.  
  
"And she is from America. Her name is Adelai Christensen. Please do all that you can to make her feel at home." He told his class when the new student finally walked into the room.  
  
She had lightest hair. It was almost the color of Ryou's hair, but not quite. And she didn't seem to be very tall for her age. Ryou guessed that since she was in their grade, that she was at least fourteen years old. The girl looked to be about five foot one inches tall. Not very tall for a fourteen-year-old girl, but you never knew, she could grow one of these days. When the girl finally looked up at the class, Ryou noticed that she had the most beautiful brown eyes. Almost like his own. And then, she spoke.  
  
"Hello." She said as she looked around the room at the bunch of complete strangers that would later become her friends, "My name is Adelai Christensen. It's very good to be here." She smiled softly and Mr. Moore told her to sit in one of the empty seats in the back of the room. And that empty seat happened to be right behind Ryou. He knew it was love at first sight from then on. He just never knew it would turn out horribly wrong.  
  
*end flashback sequence*  
  
"So, she told you that she liked you. Yet you never told her how you really felt about her?! Are you nuts, Ryou?!" Joey asked his friend while they sat down at their usual table for lunch.  
  
"I didn't know what to do. She just threw it at me. I was shocked at first, but before I could say anything, she was already in our instructors office going on with her audition." Ryou mumbled as he poked at his food with his fork. He didn't feel like eating after what happened earlier in the day.  
  
That was when everyone finally noticed Tea walking towards the table, but she was alone. Adelai was usually with her, but nobody saw her around.  
  
"What's going on? Why are you not eating anything, Tea?" Yuugi asked her with a concerned look on his face.  
  
"I can't eat. I'm too worried about Adelai right now." Tea said as she looked down into her lap which had her hands folded together on it.  
  
"Adelai? Since when did you start calling her that? What happened to good old Kenji?" Tristan asked his friend curiously. Tea never used to call Kenji Adelai. It just wasn't like the girl.  
  
"You didn't hear about it, did you?" Tea ignored Tristan's question by stating a question of her own.  
  
"I don't think so. Hear what?" Ryou asked Tea.  
  
"Okay. Earlier today. At about 9 am or so American Eastern Time, terrorists attacked America. That is why I am so worried about Adelai. The school sent her home so she could be with her family and so she could see if everyone back home was alright and not hurt by the attacks." Tea told her friends with a heartrending look upon her face.  
  
"What? Are you serious?" Yuugi asked her as he looked around at all of his friends at the table. Everybody had either their mouths hanging open, or they were just stuck with words. They weren't sure what to say, really. Nothing ever happened like this to them during their lifetime.  
  
"Yes. Adelai found out not too long ago. I was with her. We were in PE when the teacher pulled her aside to tell her the bad news. She was excused to go home right then." Tea nodded to her friends.  
  
"After school. We should go see how she is doing. Maybe we could at least try and cheer her up a little bit?" Yuugi asked the others as he pushed his lunch away from him. He lost his appetite.  
  
"Do you really think that is a good idea? Maybe we should just give her sometime before she wants to talk about it again. If I were her, I wouldn't want anybody buggin' me right when it happened to me." Joey said as he too, pushed his food away from him.  
  
"True. Why don't we just wait until she is back at school? We can cheer her up when she gets back." Ryou stated to his friends.  
  
There was always then that he could finally tell her how he really felt about her.  
  
****  
  
It was about a few days since they had last heard from Adelai. And if her friends and family back in America were all right. Ryou and Yuugi were sitting in their homeroom when they finally saw Adelai walk back into the classroom and take a seat at her desk without looking at anybody as she sat down.  
  
Yuugi and Ryou just stared at each other. They knew that somebody had to say something to her. So they both got up and walked over to her desk and began to speak.  
  
"Hi Kenji!" Yuugi chirped to his friend as he looked at her face. Well, at least it looked like she had not been crying lately. That was a good sign to start out with.  
  
"Hey, Yuugi." Kenji looked up at him and smiled lightly.  
  
"Kenji. Nice to see you again." Ryou said to his friend.  
  
"Ryou. Oh, I'm really sorry about what I did in chorus the other day.." She started to tell him but was interrupted by Ryou himself.  
  
"Really, it's okay. I don't mind." He smiled at her and that was when she finally figured it out. Could Ryou really feel the same about her? Who knew?  
  
"If you don't mind me asking. How are you feeling today, Kenji?" Yuugi asked her as he sat down in the chair next to her desk.  
  
"Alright I guess. I finally got some sleep last night and my parents let me come back to school today after last week." She said to her two friends.  
  
"I am really sorry about what happened." Ryou told her.  
  
"It's not your fault. I don't know all the details yet, but as soon as I can get a flight back home, I am going straight there and asking all the questions I can. At least I know my friends there will tell me something about what happened." Kenji said to the two.  
  
"But, is everybody alright over there?" Yuugi asked her with a concerned look upon his face yet again.  
  
"Not everybody. The last I heard that there were thousands of people either dead or missing. It's horrible." Kenji told them as tears began to fill her eyes. It looked like she was going to start crying.  
  
"Please! Don't cry. Please? It'll be alright, really." Ryou said as he put his arms around her shoulders and gave her a tight hug. He really enjoyed the feeling of having her in his arms. When he finally let go of her, he looked down at her face. Her crying had stopped.  
  
"I'm sorry, really. Forgive me if I just start to bawl for no apparent reason." She looked up at her two friends and smiled her first real smile in the past week or two. She was really happy to be back. She also knew that she could not be depressed forever. She knew she had to move on with her life and she knew everything would be all right back home.  
  
Everything was going to be all right.  
  
To Be Continued?  
  
Of course! That is, if people actually like this story that is. I finished writing this about a week and a half after September 11th. And I just found out some tragic news today. A friend of mine (and an old teacher of mine) her baby daughter died on Friday night. I would like to dedicate this to little baby Karlie. We will always miss you. And always love you. You were the sweetest little girl I have ever met. You made your mother proud. I love you! 


	4. Chapter IV

Welcome to the Fourth Chapter of Shooting Star. I am so happy that this made it this far. :D And I am also in a great mood for some other reasons. I was doing really bad in my British Literature class, but I miraculously am doing great now. I've gotten so many perfects.. but, forget about that. I just made American Music Abroad. *squeals with happiness*  
  
Thomas: What is that? *glare*  
  
Kenji: Where selected musicians from High School get to go to different countries and perform their music. I had no idea they would actually pick me for it.. *shriek*  
  
Nuriko: I am so proud of you! ^_^v  
  
Kenji: Sankyuu!  
  
Schwarz: Where are you guys going? *curious*  
  
Kenji: *reads her letter* Uhm, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. *grins* How cool is that? They picked ME.  
  
Nuriko: I knew they would pick you.  
  
'Shlee: They picked some others too. *proud*  
  
Kenji: They picked you too, didn't they? ^^v  
  
'Shlee: Yes!  
  
Kenji: Yes, I finally know somebody else who will be going with me. W00t!  
  
Hah. Hah. Sorry. Some people told me I wasn't going to make it and I was determined and viola! I got my letter earlier. My dad hid it from me. That pissed me off. And I have decided to tie this in with this fic. I thought it would sound more interesting that way. Okay! Now, enjoy this fourth chapter. Enjoy. Be happy. Don't forget to review!! Make things shiny and review this chapter!! Shiny.. shiny.. shiny! *dances away*  
  
Shooting Star  
  
Chapter 4 - With Nobility  
  
It had been a few months after the terrorist attacks on Adelai's home country and everything seemed to be back to normal between everybody. Adelai was back to her normal old self and she was finally able to be with Ryou. Yes, they were finally going out. Everyone was very happy for Ryou and Adelai. And they knew it was about time.  
  
Ryou, Yuugi and Adelai were all still in chorus. But with one new addition. Tea decided to join part way in the year, and she auditioned and made it in. This made Adelai very happy since she finally had someone to talk to during rehearsals since both Ryou and Yuugi were in the tenor section, they were separated from herself. Adelai and Tea both made soprano voice parts. At least they had some time to talk to each other. And something interesting came up in the middle of their rehearsal on one afternoon.  
  
"Now, listen up." Their instructor calmed the class down and finally got their attention, "I know that the musical is coming up very shortly. And I know we usually do something nobody has ever heard of before, but we have decided to change that this year." That got everyone's full attention. "We are going to be performing West Side Story." Their instructor finished.  
  
"Are you serious?" Adelai blurted out for the entire class to hear.  
  
"Yes, I am serious, Adelai." He told her. "Auditions will be next week. Here in the auditorium. Sign up if you would like to try out. You can all go now." He told them as he walked back into his office.  
  
"Kenji! Are you going to try out?" Tea asked as they both walked up to get their bookbags and waited for Yuugi and Ryou to get there.  
  
"I'm not sure. I would like to. But, they wouldn't want me." Adelai shrugged it off.  
  
"You would be perfect for this musical." Ryou said as he walked up behind the two girls and put a hand on Adelai's shoulder.  
  
"That's what I have been trying to tell your girlfriend here. But does she listen to me? Noooo." Tea rolled her eyes and began walking.  
  
"Come on!" Adelai ran up behind Tea. "I'm not that good. You know that." She finished telling her friends.  
  
"Yes you are. Now, end of discussion. Don't argue with me. Because you know I will win." Tea grinned as they all headed off for lunch together.  
  
****  
  
"What a wonderful day!" Adelai said in a singsong voice as she walked in the front door of her house and was greeted by her mother.  
  
"Hello, dear. How was your day?" Her mother asked her as Adelai took her shoes off and replaced them with slippers and sat at one of the stools at the counter in their kitchen.  
  
"Wonderful. We're doing West Side Story for our musical at school." She grinned while she told her mother this information.  
  
"That's great. Are you going to try out?" Mrs. Christensen asked her daughter.  
  
"I don't know. But I might. Who knows yet." Adelai said to her mother.  
  
"You should. I think it would be a magnificent experience for you." Her mother told her.  
  
"I guess you're right, mom." Adelai said as she climbed up the stairs to her bedroom. She has so much homework to do right now. She just wanted to get it all finished so she wouldn't have to end up doing it later or right before it is due in class.  
  
"Blah. Physics.. I hate this subject." Adelai stuck out her tongue as she pulled out her physics book and began to start her homework.  
  
She ended up working for almost an hour when she heard a slight tapping noise at her window. Adelai looked over in the direction of one of her windows and saw Ryou there. Wait a minute. She lived on the third floor of her house. And how did Ryou get all the way up here anyways? She quickly made her way to the window to unlock it for him. And Ryou climbed in right away and collapsed on the floor.  
  
"Ryou! What are you doing here?" Adelai asked as she sat down next to him on her bedroom floor. "You do know that you could have used the front door. You know, like normal people do?" She smiled at him.  
  
"Sorry." He huffed out of breath. "I didn't want to disturb your parents." He sighed slightly.  
  
"Only my mother is here. I think my dad is still at work. And everyone else is still at school." Adelai shrugged it off.  
  
"Did you get one of those letters for our music trip?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"No. I didn't." Adelai began to panic. What is they didn't want her to participate with the rest of the school? That was just her luck. Just what she needed to hear now.  
  
"Well, our teacher said that if you didn't get one, here is one." He handed her a piece of paper with information on it.  
  
Adelai took the sheet and immediately began to scan it over. Her eyes passed along the lines of "performing in America." She was going back home for a while! This was something she had to look forward to.  
  
"We're going to America!!" Adelai squealed.  
  
"Sssh. Not so loud." Ryou hushed her.  
  
"Sorry. Do you know where we are going?" She asked him curiously.  
  
"Well, so far. I have heard that we are going to Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania." He told her.  
  
"Pennsylvania!" Adelai almost fell backwards on the ground.  
  
"Wait, that's where you're from isn't it?" Ryou asked her. He should have known this by now.  
  
"Yes! I wonder where we will be going while we are there. Hm." She wondered as she looked over the paper a few more times.  
  
That's when there was a knock on Adelai's bedroom door. Whoops, and Ryou had snuck into her room. If one of her family members walked in on this they would assume the wrong thing.  
  
"Just a second!" She said to whomever it was outside of the door and quietly told Ryou to hide in her closet. And he did what she told him to. All because he didn't want to see Adelai get into trouble because of what he had done.  
  
"Adelai?" Her mother peeked into the room to find her daughter doing her homework at her desk.  
  
"Yes?" Adelai turned around in her chair to face her mother.  
  
"Uhm. How do I tell you this? You seem to have a guest outside. Someone you haven't seen in a long time." Her mother looked worried and began to walk down the stairs.  
  
"Who?" She said as she stood up and whispered to Ryou in the closet, "I'll be outside. I promise I will be right back. You can come out if you want." She told him as she ran down the stairs and out the front door to find someone standing there. And that someone had been the person she got into a fight with back home. Her old best friend Nira. But what was she doing here? She had nothing of her business in here and could it be that she was here to apologize to Adelai?  
  
"Nira?" Adelai questioned the other girl standing in front of her.  
  
"Isn't it nice that I decided to come say hello to you while I was in town?" Nira told her.  
  
"I guess. Well, I have no idea since we haven't been speaking to each other since our fight." Adelai shrugged as she crossed her arms over her chest. And her cast was finally off of her arm. And about time too.  
  
Ryou had snuck out of Adelai's bedroom and finally made his way outside to see Adelai and another girl speaking to each other. Well, it was more like screaming at each other. He had never seen Adelai act this way. She rarely got mad at another person.  
  
"Oh, I see they took your cast off. Would you like me to make sure you get another one?" Nira began to crack her knuckles.  
  
So this was the brute who broke Adelai's wrist before. No wonder. She looks cruel enough to do a thing like that to one of her old friends.  
  
"No, I'd rather you not." Adelai stood up for herself finally.  
  
"Whoa. Since when did your self confidence begin to get a boost?" Nira laughed at Adelai  
  
"Adelai. Who is this?" Ryou said as he walked up behind her and looked at the other girl standing there.  
  
"Nobody." Adelai stated to him.  
  
"Oh, you have a boyfriend now? I didn't think that was possible." Nira snickered loudly.  
  
"You know what. I have had it with you. How long have we known each other? Seven years? And we used to be best friends. Then all of a sudden, when I got into high school, and you were still stuck in middle school, things began to change between us. Just because I was a year and a half older than you. You got sassy with me and began to not talk to me. I am so sick of it. You told me you wouldn't care if I died. Or my friends. And I want you to just shut your mouth for once!" Adelai screamed at her once best friend.  
  
"I am so sick of you!" Nira said.  
  
"Sure. Not as much as I am of you." Adelai said as she lunged at Nira and began to throw numerous punches at the other girl.  
  
"Adelai! Stop it!!" Ryou ran over to her and pulled her off the other girl.  
  
"Hah. Your boyfriend had to keep you from scratching me with your nails. Oh, is that all you can do? You can't hurt me. You're so weak it isn't even funny." Nira laughed as she stood up and brushed herself off.  
  
"Shut up!" Adelai wiggled in Ryou's grasp. She wanted to be let go so she would be able to beat the living crap out of Nira, but Ryou wasn't going to let that happen. He wasn't going to let her get into another fight and possibly hurt herself even more than in the previous fight.  
  
"Whatever. I guess I'll see ya around." Nira smiled at her and walked off down the street.  
  
"Get back here! Nira! Come on!" Adelai was still struggling to get out of the grasp Ryou had on her. He carried her inside the house, where her mother was waiting for her. And with the door closed behind the three, he finally let go of her.  
  
"That's it. She's dead meat." Adelai reached for the door but Ryou stood in the way.  
  
"Don't even think about it." He told her sternly.  
  
"What happened out there?" Mrs. Christensen asked her daughter and Ryou.  
  
"I guess one of her old friends decided to stop by and say a nice hello. And well, it didn't turn out to be a nice hello. They ended up almost killing each other." Ryou told Adelai's mother.  
  
"I am glad you were there to stop them." Mrs. Christensen said as she led the two into the kitchen.  
  
"Mom. I really can't stand her anymore. Honestly." Adelai started to tell her mother. But she was cut off.  
  
"I know, I know. But you just have to deal with it for now. You can't do anything. And violence isn't the answer. So could we just drop it?" Her mother asked her.  
  
"Fine." Adelai rolled her eyes as she put her head down on the counter and sighed loudly.  
  
Adelai's mother chose to ignore this. "Ryou, would you like to stay for dinner tonight?" Mrs. Christensen asked Ryou.  
  
"Sure. I would love to." He told her.  
  
"Good. I will be sure to make extra tonight then." Mrs. Christensen said as she began to rummage through the refrigerator for numerous things.  
  
"We're going to go finish the physics homework, okay?" Adelai asked her mother.  
  
"Sure. But nothing else better be going on up there, you got that?" She told the two.  
  
"Nothing will." Adelai promised as Ryou and herself ran up the two flights of stairs and walked into her bedroom.  
  
"I'm sorry to ask you this, but, what went on between you and this Nira girl?" Ryou asked Adelai as he sat down on the chair near the desk and Adelai sat down on her bed.  
  
"It's a long story. I was friends with her forever. And since I am older than her, I got to get into high school before she did. And I guess that made her mad. Everything always made her angry. No matter what you did, she would get ticked off and huff away. Anyways, one day before I left from my vacation last year, I decided to have a talk with her. And boy, was I wrong. She got pissed off like usual and we got into a huge fight. And I mean a fistfight by the way. If my other friends had not been there to stop her, I would have probably broken my entire arm, or something worse. That's why I came back with that cast on my wrist. It was all Nira's fault." Adelai finished as she sighed softly.  
  
"So, it was her alright?" Ryou asked her.  
  
Adelai nodded to him. "You got it. And I wonder why she is even here. She could not have come all the way from America just to yell at me. Even though to her it would sound like a good idea." Adelai shrugged off that idea and began to think.  
  
"Maybe someone she knows is here?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"Who knows? And right now, I could really care less." Adelai grinned as she got up and twirled around the room. "I am so ecstatic right now. I may try out for the school musical, we are going to America, and I have you." Adelai went over to Ryou and hugged him. She was really lucky to have him by her side.  
  
"I'm glad. I really care for you." He told her.  
  
Adelai pulled away from him and grinned. "Of course! That's why I love you!" She laughed softly to him.  
  
"I love you, too." Ryou told her.  
  
But there was one slight problem about that. And that was Yami Bakura. Wouldn't you think he was getting sick of all of this mush? Well, he had something to say about that.  
  
To Be Continued!!  
  
Hah. That chapter was longer than I expected it to be. ^_^v Vroom. Oh well. I have decided to bring Yami Bakura into the fic a bit earlier than I had wanted him to be in it. Well, so. He will appear in the next chapter. Whenever the heck I can write it, who knows. I have a project coming up, and three speeches to do in my Economics class, so bear with me. I can't possibly do bad in any of my classes this year. So, be patient. I am also getting my surgery at the beginning of November; so don't expect so many updates around that time. Afterwards, I will be perfectly fine.  
  
Lola: Oh yes. You are getting the same surgery I had. It was so horrible. I really do feel bad for you. They get to cut you open and.  
  
Kenji: *thwaps lola* Okay, shut up. I do not need to hear about this right now. No. I have already witnessed this because my sister got it done when she was my age. *shudders at the thought*  
  
Nuriko: And she's still alive isn't she?  
  
Kenji: Yeah, but she isn't too bright after all.  
  
Thomas: Well, I wonder where she gets it from? *grins*  
  
Kenji: Shut up will you?! She's older than me, so she obviously did not get it from me.  
  
Thomas: Geez. Someone is touchy today, aren't they?  
  
Schwarz: She had a bad day at school. And at least I am nice to her, unlike some people here. *glares at Thomas*  
  
Thomas: I am so sick of you.  
  
Schwarz: Likewise.  
  
Kenji: *slowly backs away from the two*  
  
Okay! I hope you enjoyed this fourth chapter of Shooting Star! Stay tuned for the fifth chapter, when I feel like putting it up. I have updated my fics this week, and I won't be able to do anymore. So, don't forget to review! Make my day happier! Shiny! Weeee! I like shiny things. They make me happy. So, review review REVIEW! 


	5. Chapter V

This is the Fifth Chapter of Shooting Star! I am not sure how many more chapters will be in this fic, but not many. I don't have that much time to write anymore. With American Music Abroad now, I have to get things ready, and I need to get my uniform for it.  
  
Thomas: *snickers* You have to wear a uniform!!  
  
Kenji: I know. At least my uniform is cool. Except for the whole skirt thing.. *shrug*  
  
Kyoji: I bet you will look nice in your uniform.  
  
Kenji: Thank you. ^_^v I hope I look nice. I must impress those Germans, Austrians and Italians! And the Swiss, too. Har.  
  
Alucard: *playing dance dance revolution again* Must.. beat high score.. *_*  
  
Nuriko: Kenji! He is doing it again. O_O  
  
Well! Enjoy this chapter! Don't forget to review! Make me happier! I need to be happy before surgery and me die. Very sad.  
  
Shooting Star  
  
Chapter 5 - Half and Half  
  
Adelai awoke that day with one of the worst pains in her stomach. And she had no clue what it was that was causing this massive stomachache. She just knew she wanted it to go away.  
  
"Adelai? Are you ready to go to school?" Her mother popped her head in her doorway to see if her daughter was ready for school yet.  
  
"Ugh, my stomach hurts." Adelai half groaned into her pillow.  
  
"Aw, here, do you have a fever?" Adelai's mother sat at the edge of her bed and checked for a fever. "Oh, I am afraid you do have a fever. You are not going to school today. Stay here. Get some rest." And with that, her mother was off down the stairs to make her daughter some little bit of breakfast that she thought she would be able to eat.  
  
"Oh no. I don't want to miss school." Adelai spoke. "I don't want to have anything to make up." And than, she collapsed onto her bed and fell asleep. She knew there was no way she would be able to make it to school that day.  
  
****  
  
"Where is Adelai?" Ryou said as he waited by her locker that morning before school actually started.  
  
"Hey, Ryou!" Tea said as she walked up to her friend. "You looking for Adelai, too?" She asked him curiously.  
  
"Yeah. Have you seen her at all this morning?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"No. I was hoping you did. I have been looking for her all of the place. She got the main part in West Side Story! She is going to be playing Maria!!" Tea said animatedly.  
  
"Wow! Are you serious about that?" Ryou asked his girlfriend's best friend.  
  
"Sure I am serious! Would I lie to you about something like this?" Tea grinned at Ryou.  
  
"No, I am sure you would not do such a thing." Ryou nodded his head. "But, I wonder where she is right now. I have not seen her at all this morning." Ryou told her.  
  
"Maybe she is sick or something." Tea told him as they waited by Adelai's locker for a few more minutes.  
  
"Maybe. We can see about that later. I just hope she is alright." Ryou told Tea as they walked off to chorus together, discussing the play.  
  
****  
  
"Sleeeep." Adelai moaned as she sat up in her bed. She heard the doorbell ring. "Why would anybody come to my house anyways? Go awayyy!" Adelai stuffed the pillow over her face. She did not feel like speaking to anybody when she looked like this.  
  
The doorbell rang again.  
  
"Go away!" Adelai cried.  
  
And it rang for a third time.  
  
"Damn. Just go away!" This time, Adelai got herself out of bed and she shuffled to her front door and opened it to see who was there.  
  
"Well, long time, no see, shorty." It was Nira. She was back again. Why couldn't she just step in front of a speeding car? That would make Adelai's life a whole lot better.  
  
"What do you want?" Adelai asked her old friend.  
  
"To see how you were feeling." Nira grinned down at Adelai.  
  
"How did you know about me being sick?" Adelai asked her again.  
  
"Don't you remember? I know everything, so, deal with it." Nira said as she pushed her way into Adelai's foyer.  
  
"Can't you just leave me alone for once?" Adelai asked her.  
  
"Why should I leave you alone?" Nira asked Adelai.  
  
"Because I said so!" Adelai screamed at her.  
  
"Well, no. I don't feel like letting you alone. I came to settle things with you, once and for all!" Nira told the other girl.  
  
"Oh, no you don't!" Adelai shouted at the younger girl.  
  
"So what! I am sick of you!" Nira lunged for Adelai, knocking her out the front door and onto the sidewalk.  
  
"Let me go!" Adelai squirmed slightly.  
  
"No!" Nira smacked Adelai across the face. "Why don't you just listen to me?"  
  
"Why the hell should I listen to you? You were the one who always treated me like dirt. And I am so sick of your attitude." Adelai shouted as she managed to kick Nira in the side of her stomach. That caused her to roll off of her and onto the wet grass.  
  
"Hah." Adelai smirked down at the brunette.  
  
"What makes you think this is over?" Nira asked her as she got up, with one hand at her side.  
  
"Because I said so." Adelai said triumphantly.  
  
"Well, think again, little one." Nira got up and ran over to Adelai, her fists raised high.  
  
Adelai was able to dodge the other girl's fists, but she was not able to dodge the other girl's legs. Nira kicked Adelai's legs out from under her own, and she fell flat on the ground. Nira walked over Adelai.  
  
"Now, how would you like to die?" Nira asked her.  
  
"Get away from her!" A voice came from behind Nira. It was Ryou. School had just ended, and he came over to see where Adelai was all day, but before he was able to do so, he saw Nira on Adelai's front lawn, knocking his girlfriend flat on the ground. He knocked Nira over and knelt down next to Adelai.  
  
"Are you okay?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"Fine." Adelai told him quietly.  
  
"Oh, so the little protector is here. How sweet." Nira smirked.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"Why, I was just visiting your precious girlfriend, that is all." Nira shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"I thought I told you to stay away from her?" Ryou growled slightly. This was definitely not an attribute of Ryou's.  
  
"Why would I ever stay away from my dear friend, Adelai?" Nira asked him.  
  
"I told you. Stay away from her!" Ryou shouted at the brunette. Ryou's Millennium Ring began to show through his shirt, and he began to laugh like a maniac.  
  
"Ryou?" Adelai asked him.  
  
"Oh, I am not Ryou anymore. You can just call me a thief." The spirit laughed in Nira's face.  
  
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Nira shouted as she ran down the street and out of sight.  
  
"Now, what shall I do with you?" The spirit turned around to look at Adelai, who was now standing up, slightly slouching over because of Nira's attack.  
  
"What have you done with Ryou?" Adelai asked him.  
  
"He is gone. But don't you worry, he will be back sometime." The spirit smirked at Adelai.  
  
"Stay away from me." Adelai told him. "And give Ryou back to me." She asked him.  
  
"What makes you say I would do that?" The spirit asked her. But things seemed to change. Ryou came back. "Adelai? Are you alright?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"S-Stay away from me!" Adelai said. "Don't hurt me!" She shouted as she ran into her house and closed the door behind her.  
  
\\ What the hell was that anyways? //  
  
Ryou looked at the front door considerately. Damn. This would be the last time he would let Bakura get the best of him. Now, how was he going to explain this to Adelai? He had never exactly told her about his Yami before. He knew she would be too spooked out about that. He just decided to never tell her. Ryou never thought Bakura would get the best of himself and show himself to Adelai. He had a discussion with Bakura about it.  
  
****  
  
"What have I gotten myself into?" Adelai asked herself as she slowly climbed the stairs to her bedroom on the third flooring. "What was wrong with Ryou? He was not acting like himself today. Could it have something to do with the ring he had around his neck?" Adelai questioned herself as she finally made it to her room and she climbed into her very own bed and sighed. "I don't know. All I know is, that I want to go back to bed and not wake up until tomorrow." She frowned and she did. She slept until the next morning, where she would finally be off to school again.  
  
****  
  
Adelai hoped that Ryou would not be waiting for her by her locker. She would not know what to say to him at that very moment.  
  
And just her luck, he was waiting by her locker for her.  
  
"Adelai!" He called out her name.  
  
"Hello, Ryou." Adelai said as she began to unlock her locker.  
  
"Well, is that all you are going to say to me?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"I don't know. Don't you have some explaining to do?" Adelai turned around to face him after she picked up a book from her locker.  
  
"I guess I do." Ryou told her as he saw her shut the door to her locker and they began to walk off down the hallway together, to the auditorium where their choir class was held.  
  
"Would you care to enlighten me?" Adelai asked him as they both took seats in the back of the auditorium so nobody would be able to get into their conversation.  
  
"Well, how do I start this?" Ryou said to himself thoughtfully. "Uhm, Adelai, have you ever heard of a Yami?" Ryou smiled meekly as he asked her the question.  
  
"Yami?" Adelai said.  
  
\\ What the hell is a Yami? //  
  
To Be Continued!  
  
Sorry that this chapter was so short. I have no time to do anything anymore, so I may only update one more fic this week. I have stuff to do. Like, make my will since my surgery is December 6th.  
  
Nuriko: Can I have your stereo? ^^v  
  
Kenji: Nooo! My stereo! *hugs stereo*  
  
Thomas: Well, I get her Final Fantasy games! *shouts*  
  
Kenji: Noo! They're miiine!  
  
Kyoji: Why is everyone being so cruel lately?  
  
Kenji: I don't know, damn you. It's pissing me off! X_x *huffs away*  
  
Nuriko: Now look what you did to her!  
  
I hope you enjoyed this fic! Now, I must be off to oogle at my Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets tickets! Don't forget to review review review! *scampers away* 


	6. Chapter VI

Welcome to the Sixth Chapter of Shooting Star! I hope everyone is enjoying this story so far. ;-; Even though I am getting not so many reviews on it. ;-; So so sad. It makes me want to cry. Oh well! I enjoy writing, so I really don't care. ^_^;  
  
Ryou Bakura: Why are you happy all of the time?  
  
Kenji: I LOVE SUGAR! *_______*  
  
Thomas: Okay, we already know this. What really happened today? What did Lexi do to you?  
  
Kenji: NOTHIIIIIING! *sings*  
  
Nuriko: *pokes* Are you sure you are all right?  
  
Kenji: *dances around, too happy to speak anymore*  
  
All: O_O?  
  
'Manda: Uhm, here, let me explain. She got a B+ on her Economics test, which was hard so. Just ignore her for now. *hides*  
  
All: Oooooooh. o_o;  
  
Enjoy this chapter!!  
  
Shooting Star  
  
Chapter 6 - Deal With It  
  
"Uhm, Ryou? What exactly do you mean by 'yami' anyways?" Adelai asked him as they saw the rest of their class file into the auditorium just then.  
  
"It's kind of hard to explain," Ryou started to tell her quietly so nobody else could hear him.  
  
"Well, I'm listening, and we have a free period. So, we might as well make good use of it." Adelai told Ryou.  
  
"Alright. Well, Where do I start? Okay. Here goes nothing." Ryou slowly told Adelai the story of how Bakura came to be and how he got a hold of the Millennium Ring. All because of his father's trip to Egypt that one eventful summer.  
  
"And that's all, Yuugi has a Yami as well as me." Ryou told her quietly.  
  
"Yuugi? Little Yuugi? Honestly?" Adelai asked Ryou curiously.  
  
"Seriously. But not many people know about Yuugi or me, so, please don't tell anybody about this?" Ryou asked Adelai with a frown on his face.  
  
"I promise not to tell anybody about it. But, what about Nira?" Adelai asked quietly.  
  
"What about her?" Ryou asked.  
  
"She was really freaked out about Bakura." Adelai managed to laugh loudly, causing the others to look over at them and stare.  
  
"We will just have to worry about her later." Ryou said as he grinned broadly.  
  
"I guess you're right." Adelai smiled as their class started ad the music began to play.  
  
****  
  
By the end of the class period, everyone was quietly settled into their seats as they waited for their teacher to give an important announcement.  
  
"Okay. Here I have the forms for our trip to America. We leave in about three or four weeks. Please have your parents sign these. And we need them back as soon as possible." He told them as he handed out the papers to the students and than walked back into his office.  
  
"The trip is so soon." Yuugi said as he received his paper along with everyone else that had gotten theirs.  
  
"I know. At least Adelai will be able to go home for a t least a short while." Ryou said as he looked over at the soprano section that held both Tea and Adelai respectively.  
  
"She misses it there." Ryou whispered.  
  
"I don't blame her at all. America sounds like a really cool place." Yuugi told Ryou as they waited for the two girls by one of the nearest exits out of the auditorium.  
  
"I just hope you are right, Yuugi." Ryou told him as they saw the two girls walking up towards them.  
  
"This is great! We get to finally see where Adelai really came from! I wonder what it is like there? I have never been to America before!" Tea squealed when they reached Ryou and Yuugi at the exit.  
  
"I know." All Adelai could do was smile broadly to her three friends as they walked out into the hallway. The school day was over, and everyone was getting ready to go home.  
  
"What do you say about us going out sometime later to get a few things for the trip. In other words, just shopping until we drop?" Tea asked Adelai as Ryou and Yuugi walked behind the two girls down the hallway.  
  
"I am not too entirely sure if I can go." Adelai told her friend as they walked down the hallway with the two closely behind them, probably chatting about the trip as well.  
  
"Why not?" Tea asked her.  
  
"I'm not sure. I uh, have so much homework to do." Adelai said quickly,  
  
"Oh." Tea didn't sound too convinced by her friends answer.  
  
"Homework?" Ryou asked his petite girlfriend.  
  
"Yeah. And a few projects to do. So yeah." Adelai said to them.  
  
"Are yo sure you can't come with us?" Yuugi asked her.  
  
"I'm sure. I need to get going. I promised my mother that I would be home right after school to do my work. I'll see you guys later." And with those last words, Adelai ran out of the front doors of the school and down towards her friend's car in the parking lot.  
  
"Something is up with her." Ryou told the others.  
  
"Yeah. But what do you think is bothering her?" Tea asked the two.  
  
"I don't know. But I would really liked to find out." Ryou said as they, too, left the school a few minutes later.  
  
****  
  
Adelai got home sometime later after her one friend dropped her off at her house. She walked into her house, immediately took her shoes off and ran upstairs to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.  
  
"Only three or four weeks away." Adelai whispered as she set her backpack on the ground. The form was still held tightly in her hands as she did so.  
  
"Three or four more weeks. I just want to go home. I miss it there so much. I miss everyone. My friends, yes, I guess I even miss my old school there." Adelai mumbled to no one in particular. "I would love to go back and stay there." She sighed slightly. But that wasn't possible. Her parents lived here, along with her younger siblings. And her friends here in Japan. And Ryou. What would they say if she wanted to move back home?  
  
"Oh well. Can't dwell on what happened in the past." Adelai shrugged her shoulders slightly.  
  
"Adelai?" Her mother's voice could be heard from the hallway downstairs. "Ryou is here to see you." She told her daughter as she walked back into the kitchen.  
  
"Tell him I'm upstairs." Adelai replied. Not much sooner later did Ryou appear in the doorway to her tiny bedroom.  
  
"Hey. I thought you had 'lots of homework and projects to do'?" Ryou asked her from the skinny doorway.  
  
"I'm getting there." Adelai said loudly to him.  
  
"Are you okay?" Ryou said as he finally walked into Adelai's bedroom.  
  
"Sure. Why would I not be okay?" Adelai questioned him.  
  
"You just seem to be acting a bit weird. That's all." Ryou said to her as he walked a bit closer to her.  
  
"I told you that I am all right!" Adelai grumbled.  
  
"Come to think of it," Ryou started to say, "You do look a bit flushed in the face." Ryou finished saying.  
  
"Why would I be flushed if I am currently freezing my behind off?" Adelai fumed at him.  
  
"You look sick." Ryou told her.  
  
"I am not sick! I feel perfectly fine!" Adelai protested.  
  
"We'll just see about that." Ryou said as he stood in front of Adelai, putting the back of his right hand against her forehead. "You are warm." He told her quietly.  
  
"But I am freezing!" Adelai told him, "How could I be warm if it's so cold?" She asked him.  
  
"Hold on. Let me go talk to your mum about this." Ryou told her as he got up and quickly walked out of the room to find Adelai's mother.  
  
****  
  
He ran down the two flights of stairs and into the kitchen to find Mrs. Christensen. But before he was able to reach the kitchen, he heard a loud thud coming from Adelai's third floor bedroom. He ran back up the two flights of stairs again and back into her bedroom.  
  
"Adelai? Are you okay? What was that noise anyways?" Ryou started to ask, but he stopped dead in his tracks.  
  
Adelai was found lying on the floor. It looked like she had passed out.  
  
"Adelai? Adelai! Wake up!" Ryou rushed over to his side and fell on his knees, trying to wake her up.  
  
"Come on! What happened? Will you please wake up!?" Ryou was starting to panic. "Please open your eyes!"  
  
"Adelai!" He yelled.  
  
****  
  
"I don't know what is wrong with her. Why would she just pass out like that? She's never passed out before." Mrs. Christensen said as they were sitting in the waiting room of the nearest hospital.  
  
"I'm not sure. She had been acting weird all day. Was it because she was sick only two days ago?" Ryou asked his girlfriend's mother from his seat.  
  
"It could be that. I honestly have no idea. And I wonder where her father is. He should be getting here any time now." She worried.  
  
"Ryou!" Tea said as she came walking towards him. Yuugi was not far behind her.  
  
"Hello, Tea." Ryou said to his friend.  
  
"Is she alright?" Tea asked him.  
  
"We don't know anything yet. She's still with the doctor. We probably won't know for a while now." Ryou nodded his head to Yuugi as they both sat down with them.  
  
"I knew she was acting strange today." Tea said.  
  
Mr. Christensen had finally arrived at the hospital. Mrs. Christensen walked over and started to fill him in about their eldest daughter's situation.  
  
This was the perfect opportunity.  
  
"I told Adelai about Bakura." Ryou whispered to Yuugi and Tea.  
  
"Are you serious?" Tea asked him.  
  
"Yes. Well, he sort of manifested for her once. And she was freaking out about it. So I had no other choice than to tell her about him. But I do believe she is alright with it." Ryou shrugged his shoulders slightly at the two.  
  
"At least she isn't mad at you anymore." Yuugi said to his friend.  
  
"I guess you're right." Ryou sighed. He looked over to find Adelai's parents talking to the doctor.  
  
Was she all right? What was going on here? Ryou had to find out. He got up out of his seat and walked over to stand beside Adelai's parents to listen in on the conversation.  
  
"So, is she alright or what?" Mr. Christensen asked the doctor.  
  
"Well, we're not too entirely sure. But we do believe that your daughter has pneumonia." The doctor said.  
  
"Pneumonia?!" Mrs. Christensen shouted. "How the hell did she get that?" She demanded from the doctor.  
  
"Like I said, we're not too entirely sure on how she got it. But she has it. And she's going to be able to go home, but she is going to need lots of rest." The doctor said before he left. "Oh by the way. You may go see her now." He finished and walked off.  
  
Ryou heard this and quickly ran to Adelai's room.  
  
\\ I have to see her . . . . //  
  
To Be Continued. ^_^v  
  
Sorry that this chapter probably sucks. It took me a while to get it written and typed out. I wrote most of this while I was in my Latin I class. I do hope everyone has enjoyed this so far. If nobody actually cares for this story, well, I won't continue it. But I do want some feedback on it. That would be very great!  
  
Draco: Uhm, Kenji. I have a little question to ask you.  
  
Kenji: Yeah?  
  
Draco: Why do you have a shrine of me on your walls? O_O  
  
Kenji: ^^;;; Because you are my hero. Slytherin ROCKS! And also, I happen to adore Tom Felton.  
  
Tai: My God. He's only fifteen!  
  
Kenji: No no, my friend. So what if it's a two-year age difference? I'm only seventeen. You have an obsession with Rupert Grint. And you're two and a half years older than him. *grin*  
  
Tai: Shut up. -_-;  
  
Chi: *thwaps her twin sister*  
  
Tai: What was that for?!  
  
Kenji: Dear. At least the rest of you don't have to go to school with these two. ^_^;;;; *runs off to plaster more Tom Felton pictures on her walls*  
  
Please, don't forget to review this chapter! I need feedback if you would like me to continue. And don't worry. There is definitely a lot of action coming up in the next chapter or so. I know I am long overdue for some, but I just haven't had time to do so. I am going to New York during the week, so, I hope to get the next chapter up sometime. And I have three speeches the next week. I won't have very much time until after Chamber of Secrets comes out.  
  
REVIEW! ^^v 


	7. Chapter VII

Welcome to the Seventh Chapter of Shooting Star. I am so sorry it took this long for it to come out. I've been incredibly busy lately. Not counting the fact that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets just came out on Friday and I have already seen it twice, and I am going again on Monday. Do pity me, I know I have an obsession. But a healthy one! Not really.  
  
Thomas\\ You need some mental help, you know?  
  
Kenji\\ I know. Leave me alone!  
  
Nuriko\\ It's about time you update this fic! And where's my Malik fic?  
  
Kenji\\ Where's my Schwarz fic? Eeeeehhhh?  
  
Nuriko\\ *shrugs* I dunno.  
  
Well! I do hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Don't forget to review, either!!  
  
Shooting Star  
  
Chapter 7 - Do Anything  
  
  
  
Ryou crept his way down the hallway and into Adelai's hospital bedroom. He just had to see if she was in fact really alright.  
  
He opened the door slowly and stuck his head inside. She was definitely asleep. Ryou walked into the room calmly and pulled up a chair next to Adelai's bed and sat down in it.  
  
"How could this have happened anyways?" Ryou half whispered, half mumbled to nobody in particular. He put his hand over Adelai's own.  
  
She was ice cold.  
  
"I miss you. I hope you are able to wake up soon. I have good news to tell you. As soon as you've woken up, you are able to go home and rest there. Oh, please just be alright." Ryou sighed as he squeezed her small hand in his own. "I wish there was something that I could do to help you. I want to help you in anyway possible. You know that I would do anything for you. Even give my life for yours . . ." His voice trailed off as he saw Adelai's eyes open slowly.  
  
"Ah. Who turned on the lights so bright?" Adelai groaned as she took her other arm and shielded her eyes with it.  
  
"You're alright!" Ryou said cheerfully at the sight of his girlfriend's open eyes.  
  
"Yes. As far as I know, I'm perfectly fine. Who says I'm not alright anyways?" Adelai asked him curiously.  
  
"Do you even know where you are, Adelai?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"Uhm, I guess you could say I have no clue what I'm doing . . ." Adelai finally took this chance to look at her surroundings, "here in the hospital. Wait a minute! Why am I here? Here in the *hospital*?" She started to freak out.  
  
"Calm down. It's alright. You just passed out, that's it. Really. . ." Ryou tried to tell her. He had no clue how to tell her about the pneumonia. He wondered how she would take the news.  
  
"Ryou. Is there something wrong?" Adelai looked up at him with distraught eyes.  
  
"Well. Uhm, I guess you could say there is something wrong. Adelai, you . . . you have pneumonia." Ryou choked out.  
  
Adelai's eyes widened at the word 'pneumonia'. How could she be sick? And so close to their music trip to America. Not now! Why did this stuff always have to happen to her?  
  
"It's alright. Don't worry about it. You will be just fine. Alright? The doctors said that you could go home as soon as you've woken up. But you need to get a lot of rest. We do want you better for the trip in the next couple of weeks. We need the best American tour guide we can get!" Ryou smiled down at Adelai, whom looked like she was about to cry at his words.  
  
"Is something the matter?" Ryou asked Adelai solicitously.  
  
"No. Nothing's wrong. I'm perfectly fine." Adelai managed to smile. "Where is everyone else?"  
  
"Waiting to see you. Yuugi and Tea are out in the waiting room. Along with your parents." Ryou told his girlfriend.  
  
"Ryou . . ." Adelai asked delicately.  
  
"Yes, Addy?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"I'm so very sorry for snapping at you before. I didn't mean to. I just guess it was the pneumonia talking. I didn't really mean to. I don't know what really came over me." Adelai ranted on.  
  
"It's alright, really. Now, please get some rest so you can get better for this American trip!" Ryou said to her.  
  
\\ I guess he is right. Just have to wait until the time gets here to do anything about it. //  
  
  
  
****  
  
Adelai was finally allowed to go home the next day. But the only bad thing about the situation was, that she was not allowed to leave her bed until she had gotten better. That meant, no climbing out her window at night to visit Ryou. Or do anything else for that matter. Meaning, she was a prisoner in her own bedroom.  
  
"What joyous fun for me." Adelai groaned as she pushed a pillow against her face.  
  
"What can I do around this place? Without getting into trouble, that is? Nothing to dooo." Adelai spoke softly to no one in particular.  
  
"Wait a second. There is that letter that I got from Caryn yesterday. I never did end up reading it. Damn. Might as well do so now. I can't do anything else." Adelai picked up the letter from her nightstand and opened it.  
  
Dear Addy,  
  
Adelai! How are you doing? I haven't talked to you in such a long time. How is everything going for you in Japan? I hope everything is going well for you. Well, besides the fact that your mother told me about you having pneumonia. Are you alright? I hope you are.  
  
Oh yes! You are coming to America in a few weeks time, am I correct? I can't wait to see you! And are you going to bring Ryou along with you? I can't wait to meet him! He sounds honestly too nice. I wish I could have found somebody just like him. Well, you never know. I may end up finding somebody of my own very soon.  
  
School is awfully forlorn without you. I also miss having my classes with you. I miss the way you would always make random noises in the back of the room, scaring everyone around us. I loved that. I do miss that. And everyone here misses you as well. They all say hello!  
  
When you graduate from high school over in Japan, are you going to move back home? I seriously hope you do. I miss you terribly and I wish to have you around more often. And Ryou, too. Hey, does Ryou have any cute friends? Hehe. Just kidding. Oh yes. Remember that guy that always kept chasing after you while you were still here? Well, he has started to chase after me now. It's absolutely vile. It makes me want to scream.  
  
Well, I do hope you are feeling better! Please write back soon. I can't wait to hear from you!  
  
Your Friend, Caryn  
  
"Aw. Now I really miss her. She was always so nice to me." Adelai frowned as she closed the letter up and put it back in the envelope it arrived in.  
  
Caryn had always been her best friend since she could remember. Adelai had lived in Pennsylvania her entire life, and she had met Caryn in elementary school. And they instantly became best friends. They were always seen together. And if they weren't, people always thought they were having a fight. Which was absolutely untrue. And then one day, Adelai's father made them move to Japan. Adelai was instantly separated from Caryn, and barely spoke to her since her big move. Of course, there was always the occasional letter here and there. But they rarely spoke to each other over the phone.  
  
"Oh." Adelai sighed and put the pillow back on her face and slowly began to drift off.  
  
****  
  
"At least she's alright." Tea told the others one day at lunch.  
  
"Yeah. I guess you are right." Joey said to Tea in between bites of his pizza.  
  
"Pig . ." Tea muttered under her breath. "I do hope Adelai gets back soon. I don't enjoy being the only girl at this lunch table. I mean, the only mature person here." She grinned at her male friends.  
  
"Hey!" Both Yuugi and Ryou said aloud. They weren't immature, and Tea knew it.  
  
"I know. I guess I should say that about Tristan and Joey. What pigs." Tea kept on laughing at her two friends.  
  
Yuugi and Ryou couldn't help but laugh either. Whenever Adelai wasn't around, Tea sure did do a good job at replacing her in the comical relief category.  
  
Ryou still missed her. He hoped that she would get better soon. And he also hoped that Nira didn't catch wind of this. Because is she did, she would be over at the Christensen household raising hell. And he certainly didn't want that to happen to her. And not now of all times. They were leaving for America in three weeks. He didn't want anything or anybody spoiling this trip for Adelai.  
  
Or in that case, he didn't want Yami Bakura to do anything about this.  
  
"Oh, but you're wrong there, Ryou. So very wrong." Yami Bakura laughed sinisterly inside Ryou's millennium ring.  
  
To Be Continued!  
  
Phew! I was finally able to get a chapter of one of my fics finished. I have not had much time lately. What with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets now out in theaters. ^__^ It's very good. I've seen it about three times now. And I plan on going again this Friday with a bunch of my friends, and having another party afterwards. That will also take up my time considering I have homework and a shirt to make. Yay. And my surgery is in about two weeks. Around that time, I will be out of it. And my chorus concert is a week after my surgery, so that will put me under a lot of pressure. So, be patient with me. I am truly sorry about all of the inconvenience. But thank you all for reading! And please don't forget to review. I promise to have the next chapter up as soon as I can. I would really like to update my other Yu-Gi-Oh fic, and my Peter Pan one. Don't forget to review!!  
  
Thanks!! 


	8. Chapter VIII

This is the Eighth Chapter of Shooting Star! Wow. It's getting pretty far. This has surprised me. I'm not sure why I am typing this right now. I have nothing else to do anyways. I just had surgery on Friday, and I am absolutely surprised that I'm up and moving around. I can't open my mouth, which sucks. And the pain in my arm is horrendous. They couldn't find a vain for the IV, so they kept stabbing me. And it hurts to move it around. X_x So so sad.  
  
Baku-chan: Well! You're alive now, aren't you?  
  
Kenji: Yes, I am.  
  
Ryou: See, we told you it wouldn't be so bad.  
  
Kenji: I know. O_o;  
  
Liz: *pops in* How are you feeling Kenji?  
  
Kenji: Okay, ne.  
  
Liz: Everyone at school misses you. ;-; We miss your rude comments to 'Pervert-Boi' in European History.  
  
Kenji: Aw.  
  
Liz: Jess is filling in for you. xD  
  
Kenji: God. I have to see this.  
  
Well! Don't forget to review after reading this! I need some ideas and to see if you people actually like this story. Because if you don't, it's going awaaaay!  
  
  
  
  
  
Shooting Star  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Eight - Finally!  
  
  
  
  
  
It had been three weeks since Adelai had gotten her illness. She seems to be doing a lot better than she had before. She is up and moving around a lot more. And not to mention that she just recently went back to school. She needed to get caught up on all of her missed work.  
  
Oh, and the American trip was in three days. Adelai was about to explode with elation.  
  
"Three days!" Adelai sang to herself as she stood up in her room and was stuffing things into her suitcase for the trip.  
  
"You're really excited about this, aren't you?" Ryou asked her as he sat down at her computer chair.  
  
"How did you guess?" Adelai grinned as she walked over to her closet and began to pick things out of it. Immediately seeing a few things that she liked, she took them off the hangers and threw them onto her bed. Occasionally, the clothing wouldn't make it to her bed and they would end up falling on Ryou's head.  
  
"Ohff. Do you really need all of this stuff, Adelai?" Ryou asked her kindly. Why did girls always need to do this when it came to trips?  
  
"Yes, I do need all of this stuff. A girl can't have too many clothes now can see?" Adelai asked him as she took the Lock Haven University* sweatshirt off of his head.  
  
"Well, this one seems to have an awful lot of them. What is Lock Haven anyways?" Ryou asked her, as he referred to the sweatshirt she took off of his head.  
  
"Oh that. My cousin went there. And she gave me that sweatshirt. It's nice, really. I like it. Nice and comfy." Adelai said as she shoved the maroon sweatshirt in her suitcase along with her other belongings.  
  
"Three days!" Adelai began to sing again. She hummed to herself as Ryou watched her from the computer chair. Ryou honestly had no idea why his girlfriend chose this late in the day to start packing for their trip. He was finished packing days ago. Adelai just had a problem with procrastination. But that's what he loved about her.  
  
'If you only knew, hikari. If only you knew.' Yami Bakura laughed sinisterly from inside the Millennium Ring.  
  
  
  
Three Days Later . . . .  
  
  
  
"Now, Adelai. Be careful, alright? And I hope you have fun!" Mrs. Christensen told her daughter as her entire family was at the airport terminal to see her and everyone else off to America.  
  
"Yes, kaasan. I know." Adelai said as she gave her mother a hug and said goodbye to the rest of her family and eventually caught up with Ryou and the others at the gate. "Ready!" She told them animatedly.  
  
"That we know. On we go!" Yuugi Motou said to everyone as they began to board the airplane heading towards Baltimore.  
  
"Why are we going to Baltimore, anyways? Why not somewhere _in_ Pennsylvania? You know, where we're supposed to be going!" Jounouchi said abruptly when they got into their seats on the plane.  
  
( A/N: You were probably wondering why Honda and Jounouchi were going on this trip with the others, well. They decided to tag along. Kind of like at Duelest Kingdom. They wanted to see everything that was going on. And yes, they actually had jobs to pay for the tickets. Sorry for the confusion. ^_^v)  
  
"Uhm, well, it's because Lancaster doesn't really have an International Airport, Jounouchi." Adelai told her friend quietly. "Sure we have an airport. But it's really only used for flying to Pittsburgh. That's about it. The only big airport close to us is either in Philadelphia or in Harrisburg." She said.  
  
"Oh. I should've known that." Jounouchi said as he put a hand behind his back and began to grin. He couldn't help it. He didn't know an awful lot about America yet.  
  
"So, are you excited, Adelai?" Anzu said from the seat next to Adelai?  
  
"Of course I am. I can't wait to go see my old school and see how everyone is doing. They will all be very surprised at how much I seemed to have changed." Adelai smiled cheerfully at her friend. When Adelai first left for Japan all of those years ago, she had short hair, well, shoulder length, she was extremely quiet. She never liked talking to somebody first. She would always wait for somebody to come up to her and start a conversation. And the braces. She finally got them off last year. And she was content about that. She didn't enjoy the feel of metal in her mouth all of the time.  
  
"I bet they will be surprised." Anzu smiled at her friend as they continued to talk about the trip.  
  
Ryou was sitting in front of Adelai and Anzu, with Yuugi right next to him. And Honda and Jounouchi were in front of them. Making extremely abnormal noises and badgering the poor flight attendant for food.  
  
  
  
One Day Later . . . .  
  
  
  
"We're here!" Adelai said cheerfully as they found their way through the Baltimore/Washington International Airport. They went to go pick their bags up and wait for their ride to come pick them up so they could head off to Lancaster.  
  
"Where is everyone staying, anyways?" Anzu asked quietly.  
  
"Oh. All of I suppose. Not one hotel could fit us all in, so I guess they had to separate the lot of us. Which shouldn't be too bad. Oh! I see Caryn! She and her mother are here to pick us up!" Adelai said as she instantly dropped one of her bags on the ground and ran over to her Korean friend.  
  
"Caryn!" She shrieked as she gave her close friend a big hug. "I've missed yoou!" Adelai giggled as she let go of her friend and smiled.  
  
"Addy! You're finally here! I can't believe it's been so many years since I last saw you. And your hair." Caryn took one of her hands and began to play with Adelai's hair. "It's gotten so long! Let me guess, you told your mother that you refuse to cut it?" Adelai nodded her head at her friend. "I thought so. I know you all too well." Caryn grinned big and saw Adelai's friends. "Oh! Who are they?" Caryn asked Adelai.  
  
"Oh." Adelai walked over to the others and began to introduce them to Caryn and her mother. "Caryn, this is Anzu," Anzu waved happily over at Caryn, "This is Yuugi," the short boy smiled over in Caryn's way and said hello. "And these two, are Jounouchi and Honda. Beware of them." Adelai said. Caryn couldn't help but laugh at their antics.  
  
"Hey!!" Honda yelled.  
  
"Told you." Adelai said. "And how could I forget Ryou?" Adelai said as she hugged her boyfriend.  
  
"Oooh. So _this_ is Ryou, eh?" Caryn asked Adelai. "Well, you sure know how to pick 'em!" She giggled softly.  
  
"Well! I don't know how much time we have! But I think we have to get going. Does everyone have their things?" Caryn's mother asked everyone just to make sure. And everyone nodded her way. "Alright. Follow me. And we'll be off to Lancaster!" She said as everyone began to follow her.  
  
  
  
In The Car . . . .  
  
  
  
"I'm honestly surprised that we could all fit in this van. And why does this van seem so familiar?" Adelai said to Caryn.  
  
"Oh, you don't recognize it? It was the twins'. They let us borrow it for today because they knew that we had to pick all of you up." Caryn told Adelai, whom was sitting in the middle set of seats with Ryou and Anzu.  
  
"God. How could I forget? But . . I won't get into that right now." Adelai smiled to herself.  
  
"Where are we anyways?" Yuugi asked from the back seat, in between Honda and Jounouchi. Just where he wanted to be today. He was going to have a severe headache by the end of the day.  
  
"Almost there." Caryn's mother said from the driver's seat. "I'd say that we have about ten minutes." They were heading off to one of the hotels that the music group would be staying at during this trip. They would be staying at Sherwood Knoll down the road from Adelai's old house. And the other half would be staying at the Westfield Inn, which was right down the road from the other hotel. So everyone had things all worked out perfectly.  
  
"Wow. This place sure hasn't changed since I last remembered it." Adelai said quietly, to nobody in particular.  
  
"Yeah. You should see the school. They finally redid the Middle School." Caryn said to Adelai.  
  
"Yep. You know how it was falling apart when I was there last? I ripped the door off of my locker and didn't even try it." Adelai grinned over at Ryou, who was smiling at her.  
  
"You broke your locker?" Ryou asked her.  
  
"Uh huh. But it was an accident, I know! I was leaving my English class when I tried to open the thing and well, the door popped off and my English teacher freaked out." Adelai shrugged her shoulders as she smiled and then looked back out the window at the passing buildings.  
  
"I do think I should warn you." Caryn told Adelai as she turned her head around from the front seat.  
  
"Why?" Adelai looked at her best friend with apprehensive eyes.  
  
"Oh! It's nothing bad. Just thought I would warn you that everyone was going to meet you at the hotel. I just thought I would tell you before Liz or the others decided to jump on your shoulders when you arrived." Caryn grinned at the thought.  
  
"Thanks. Thanks for warning me about that. And let me guess, will the others be there? And by others, I mean just about everyone else from school?" Adelai asked Caryn the question.  
  
"Of course! Just beware." Caryn started to laugh a bit when they pulled into the entrance of the hotel.  
  
Before they could even get out of the car, Adelai saw most of her friends waiting by the entrance. They all seemed to be holding balloons and all sorts of things.  
  
"These are your friends?" Ryou asked Adelai as they got out of the van and picked up their bags from the back of the van.  
  
"Yep. And I do warn you. They can be a bit, anomalous at times. But, they grow on ya." She smiled as all of her friends ran over to them and started to bombard Adelai with questions about her new home.  
  
"It's sure great to be home again." Adelai sighed with relief as she began to speak with all of her friends and introduced everyone to everyone. It was going to be a long night.  
  
  
  
  
  
To Be Continued!! XD  
  
* - Lock Haven University is an actual university in northern Pennsylvania. My older sister is currently a Senior there. XD And yes, I got the colors right. *claps*  
  
So! There was the latest chapter! Are you proud of me? I got that finished right after surgery, too!! It wasn't all that bad. But, I'm still alive. And I do hurt a bit. But I'll get over it.  
  
And oh, I changed everyone's names to the Japanese ones. I felt inferior with the English names. So, don't mind that. ^^;;  
  
Baku-chan: I'm hungry. Do you have anything _normal_ to eat around here?  
  
Kenji: Depends on what you call normal. We have soup . . . Which is what I have been eating the past four days. *sigh*  
  
Baku-chan: No! _NORMAL_ food! Like, solid food?  
  
Kenji: Probably. O_o; Why? You starving to death?  
  
Baku-chan: Yes! Malik made me eat yellow snow yesterday!  
  
Nuriko: *snicker* It was funny, too!  
  
Kenji: Oh.. help me.  
  
I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! And do review with some ideas for this fic! I do believe I know where it is mainly headed, and what will happen. I just want some input from you guys! Ne! Don't forget to review! Thanks!! 


	9. Chapter IX

I finally decided to update Shooting Star! ^_^v So proud of myself. I'm a bit stuck on my other fiction, so I decided to do this one instead. Nuriko, I am currently working on your fic and I should have two or three chapters up by or around Christmas time. So, that will be your Christmas present!! Be happy!! And, I am so very glad that the surgery went well and I am normal again. So thrilled.  
  
Baku-chan: You're definitely back to your old self. You're playing dance dance revolution until you pop.  
  
Kenji: Not anymore. I got the playstation 2 taken away from me since I uh.. hehehhee. *sweat drop*  
  
Baku-chan: What did you do now?  
  
Kenji: I got a bad IPR in math. x_x;  
  
Baku-chan: What the hell is that?  
  
Ryou Bakura: Uhm, it's an 'interm progress report.' Tells parents how their kids are doing in school.  
  
Kenji: Yeah. I got one in Physics saying I have an A. And a D in math. O_o So sad.  
  
Nuriko: O_O! Nooo!  
  
Kenji: I'm technically 'grounded' until Christmas. ^_^;;  
  
So, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! And please review! I have an idea for what I want done in this. But, it's not all that great. XD You'll have to keep reading and find out for yourself!!!  
  
Kenji: And oh my God, my sister is running around thinking she's Tony Hawk and doing flips on the stairway. Wait, she thinks she's Chinese. And honestly, she's scaring the crap out of me. HELP ME SOMEBODY!!!! O_O!  
  
  
  
Shooting Star  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter 9  
  
  
  
"Adelai! Welcome home!!" One of the girls had said as she walked up to Adelai when they first arrived to the hotel. Adelai hadn't seen this particular group of friends since she was in the seventh grade. And she was only twelve back then. She was now sixteen, and she had looked a lot different than what she looked like before hand.  
  
  
  
"Hi! Liz, everyone. It's really great to be back." Adelai smiled at her friends as she gradually introduced everyone to each other. And everyone seemed to be anxious to meet Ryou. They were all very proud of Adelai for getting a boyfriend. And such a nice one at that.  
  
  
  
"Stalker misses you, Addy." Liz couldn't help but laugh. Adelai had a disgusted look on her face. "I don't want to talk about him! Has he been peeking into your room from a tree lately?" Adelai asked her friend.  
  
  
  
"Nope. And I'm thankful for that." Liz laughed.  
  
  
  
"Okay. I'm sorry to break all the festivities up, but these guys here have to get themselves checked into the hotel and get themselves unpacked! Maybe later you all can catch up about the old days." Caryn's mother said as she shooshed everyone away and they walked into the hotel to check in.  
  
  
  
"Where are we going after this?" Ryou asked his girlfriend after they checked in and they were heading towards the elevators.  
  
  
  
"You'll never guess. We're going to a few schools. We're to see how everyone here studies their music." Adelai shrugged. She didn't seem too happy about going to these places. What was wrong?  
  
  
  
"Adelai? Is something the matter? You don't look too thrilled to be here." Ryou asked her.  
  
  
  
"It's nothing, honestly. I just have a few bad memories of some of these places. I don't really want to relive them right now. But, let's forget about that! I'm home, I should really be happy." Adelai smiled brightly as she gave Ryou a small kiss and she ran off to the room she was sharing with three other girls. Ryou looked after her, dumbstruck. He didn't really know what just went on with his girlfriend. But it didn't seem too bad.  
  
  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
"Welcome, to Carter* Elementary School! Now, I want you all on your best behavior when we are in there. School is still in session right now. And please, be kind to the children here. Adelai, I do believe you can show us around. You did go here, did you not?" Their sensei asked her.  
  
  
  
Adelai nodded to him. "Of course. I only went here for a couple years before they moved us to another school." She told them. Why did she have to move?  
  
  
  
\\ Nira. \\  
  
  
  
Adelai moved because of Nira. That's when all the tormenting started for the poor girl. Ryou had to put a stop to this.  
  
  
  
They were getting a tour of the tiny elementary school by Adelai. She went around showing them where everything was, and what everything meant. Some of the teachers even invited the group of high school students into their classrooms to greet the children. And a few of the teachers had recognized Adelai from when she went to this school. She was honestly glad to be back here. Her heart ached for being away from her home too long. She had missed it here a great deal.  
  
  
  
"Adelai? What's this?" Anzu asked her friend as she pointed to a picture and an extremely large commemorative inscription on the wall to the right of them. It had a picture of a group of small children and an older woman on it. It looked like a teacher. The children in the picture looked extremely happy and one of the young girls had her hands wrapped around the woman's left leg. The girl was giggling and smiling as the picture was taken. The two seemed awfully close.  
  
  
  
Adelai recognized it in an instant. "Oh. That is in memory of a teacher that was once here. She died one year when she was only 25. And, the school put this up for her." Adelai told them. She didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore. She didn't like the idea very much. She continued to walk on with everyone else behind her. But Ryou and Anzu stayed behind to study the picture.  
  
  
  
"I notice something here. This little girl looks an awful like Adelai." Anzu told Ryou as he looked over the picture.  
  
  
  
She was right. It was Adelai. Nobody could mistake the platinum hair. And that smile. Adelai knew the woman that died! But there was more to this story. "There has to be more to this. Wouldn't she tell us how this lady died? You can't die from too many things that young in life. You know, unless she was murdered . . ." Ryou mumbled slowly to Anzu.  
  
  
  
"Wait! Maybe she was murdered! Should we talk to Adelai about this?" Anzu asked Ryou.  
  
"I don't know. Maybe we should wait a bit." Ryou said and they just nodded and began to catch up with the rest of the group.  
  
  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
  
  
That night, the kids were free to roam the local mall and do whatever they wanted to do before curfew. Adelai was sitting on one of the benches, with Ryou as the others went into a store.  
  
  
  
"Adelai, can I ask you something?" Ryou asked her gently.  
  
  
  
She turned her brown eyes toward him. "What, Ryou?" She asked.  
  
  
  
"That girl in that picture, at the school . . . it was you, wasn't it?" He asked her.  
  
  
  
Adelai looked to the ground and folded her hands in her lap. "Yes. It was me when I was seven years old. And that woman was my first grade teacher. I loved her. She was like my second mother. She had taught me so many things that I never knew. And she was a friend of my parents. So I usually got to see her on weekends when she would come over to visit, or we would go over to her house and see her. Well, one day. I was in about second grade. She never showed up to school. Everyone got worried, but we never thought about it. But the next day, we were informed that she had died. She had been murdered. And you want to know the sad thing besides dieing at age twenty- five? They never found out who killed her. I had always wanted to go out into the world and find this asshole who did this to her life. Her family. Devastated. And, I'm sorry. I can't talk about this anymore." Adelai had begun to cry.  
  
  
  
Ryou wasn't too entirely sure of what to do, he just put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder and slowly began to comfort her. "It's alright. Don't think about it. She's in heaven, looking down on you. And she's perfectly happy. She's proud of you, because I am proud of you." Ryou said as he placed a kiss on Adelai's forehead. He knew there was more to this story. And why did they never find out who had killed this woman that was so close to his Adelai's heart? He couldn't help but wonder. He had an idea, but it was far from true, at least now it was far from true.  
  
  
  
They began to shop around for a while, not really finding anything in particular until they reached the first floor and they found the arcade.  
  
  
  
"They have Dance Dance Revolution here!" Adelai squealed slightly and ran into the arcade, eventually everyone followed suit. "Who would like to dance against me? Queen of DDR?" Adelai made a slight sound and Ryou volunteered to 'duel' against his girlfriend.  
  
  
  
"Prepare to get plummeted into the groooound." Adelai said in a low voice as they picked Charmy and Astro as their two characters. Adelai then chose 'La Senorita Virtual' and the music began to play.  
  
  
  
Ryou wasn't doing too well with this song. It was too fast for him, and it had too many mixed up doubles for his mind to figure out before they went away. But, Adelai on the other hand was kicking his behind. She was going onto her 210 combo, but she messed up and everything went down the drain. She did beat Ryou, but at least he tried.  
  
  
  
"Not fair! I'm not good at this game." Ryou pouted as they got off the machine to let the others have a turn.  
  
  
  
"Sorry!" Adelai giggled to herself.  
  
  
  
Their night finished with lots of dance dance revolution 'dueling' and eating too many cinnabons. They were definitely going to be sick the next day.  
  
  
  
But Ryou still couldn't get Nira out of his mind . . . . he knew she was behind this somehow. He just didn't know why and how. He was going to find out very soon. And Yami, as well.  
  
  
  
  
  
To Be Continued!! XD  
  
  
  
Sorry this is really short. But my parents are out, and my sister is still upstairs dancing around the room playing Tony Hawk. And she is scaring me a bit. I want to go lock myself in a room and sleep until I have to go to school tomorrow.  
  
Baku-chan: I hate school. Why do you make me go with you?  
  
Kenji: To scare everyone away. It works, too.  
  
Nuriko: *giggles* I know. XD  
  
Malik: -_-; Help me, please.  
  
  
  
Well, I hope everyone has a great holiday season! That is, if I don't update before then! Please review! I need some more reviews, or I won't update this anymore. ;-; I'm sorry. But I really enjoy writing this. And I already know what 'might' happen. So, please review! Thank you to the ones who already have reviewed! Love you all!!  
  
And sorry for the messed up typing. I'm on a different computer. And it's slightly anal. ^_^ 


	10. Chapter X

I've gotten the tenth chapter of Shooting Star up and running!! Still can't believe I am able to update this so soon. Well, I guess since I'm on vacation now. And I don't technically have to go back to work until March. XD I guess I'm just lucky? Ne?  
  
Thomas: Who says you're lucky anyways?  
  
Kenji: Me. I say so. O_o;  
  
Thomas: Oohkay.  
  
Nuriko: Where's my fic? I thought you were going to work on it?  
  
Kenji: I am working on it. It's just not ready to be typed yet. Almost, though. I wanted to work on this before I forgot anything.  
  
Nuriko: It's my Christmas present. Don't forget that. *stares*  
  
Kenji: O_O  
  
Don't forget to review! And insert the standard disclaimer here. XD *lazy*  
  
  
  
  
  
Shooting Star  
  
  
  
Chapter 10  
  
  
  
  
  
"Adelai! Adelai! ADELAI!" A voice shouted out in the darkness.  
  
  
  
Adelai jumped up from her bed and looked around the hotel room she was sharing with Anzu and two other girls. Somebody had called out her name. But who was it? She looked around the room, it was pitch black. And then she heard her name being called out again.  
  
  
  
"Adelai! Are you awake?" It was Anzu.  
  
  
  
"I am now. What's wrong?" Adelai whispered as she looked at the clock next to her bed. It read 2:33 am on it. Why did Anzu have to wake her up so early?  
  
  
  
"I heard something." Anzu said.  
  
  
  
"Heard what?" Adelai replied to her friend as she felt Anzu sit at the edge of her very own bed.  
  
  
  
"I don't know what it was. I just heard it. And it didn't sound . . . uhm, normal?" Anzu shivered slightly.  
  
  
  
"Maybe you're just hearing things. Go back to sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow you know. And I'm tired." Adelai tried to tell her friend, but it didn't really get to Anzu. And then, Adelai heard it. She couldn't explain it. It was an odd thumping noise. Coming from the hallway. "Okay, now I heard it. And I'm freaked out." Adelai began to freak out.  
  
  
  
By that time, the two other girls in the bedroom, Naoki and Hikaru had been woken up from all of the talking.  
  
  
  
"Go see what it is!" Naoki told the other three.  
  
  
  
"No way! I'm not going out there. Do you see what I'm wearing anyways?!" Hikaru shouted.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, pajamas. Big deal. I'll go see." Adelai said as she got up and crept to the doorway and peeked outside. She saw nothing out there. "Nothing's out there." Adelai told her friends. They were just paranoid.  
  
  
  
"I know something's out there!" Anzu said to Adelai and the others.  
  
  
  
"Nothing's out there!" Adelai shouted.  
  
  
  
_thump_  
  
  
  
The four girls froze.  
  
  
  
"What the hell was that?" Naoki asked the others.  
  
  
  
"How should I know what the hell that was?" Hikaru shouted.  
  
  
  
"Calm down! Just, calm down, alright?!" Adelai screamed. She probably just woke the entire hotel up by now with all the screaming she and the other girls were doing.  
  
  
  
Anzu turned on one of the wall lights. "There. This should be better. I won't be able to get any sleep now, you know." She frowned as she flopped down on the bed.  
  
  
  
_thump_  
  
  
  
The girls froze again.  
  
  
  
"Damn it!" Naoki screamed again.  
  
  
  
The girls sat in total silence for almost ten minutes. They didn't hear anything after the last thump in the hallway. What could it have been? Maybe they were just hallucinating. But all four of them at the same time? Who knows?  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
By the time the four girls had fallen asleep, it was time for them to get up and get ready for breakfast. None of the girls slept much the previous night. So, when the ventured their way down to the restaurant where they were meeting the others for breakfast, they were half asleep and walking zombies from beyond the grave.  
  
  
  
Ryou noticed this instantly when he saw the girls walk into the lobby. They looked horrible. "What happened to the four of you?" He asked them as they approached.  
  
  
  
"Couldn't sleep. Anzu was hallucinating that she kept hearing this noise in the hallway." Adelai grumbled.  
  
  
  
"Yeah. She had to wake us all up." Naoki said as she stifled back a yawn.  
  
  
  
"Hey! You three were freaked out, too!" Anzu shouted.  
  
  
  
"Whoa, Anzu. Calm your hormones there." Jounouchi grinned at this friend.  
  
  
  
"I'll teach you to 'calm your hormones' you twit!" Anzu gritted her teeth.  
  
  
  
"Anzu! Calm down!" Yuugi asked his friend.  
  
  
  
Anzu looked over at Yuugi and blushed slightly. She didn't say anything after that.  
  
  
  
The group of friends ate their breakfast in peace for most of the hour. Then they had to walk over to the buses and board them so they were off to another school for some music lessons or something educational they betted.  
  
  
  
"Not another school." Jounouchi sighed from the back of the bus.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Later that evening, everyone was back in the hotel and sitting in the lobby just hanging out. They didn't have anything else better to do. They had been out most of the day visiting schools and getting lessons. So, they had to stay in the hotel for the evening. They would most likely be going out another night for something 'exciting' to do.  
  
  
  
"I still wonder what that noise was." Anzu asked Adelai when they were sitting alone in a corner.  
  
  
  
"I don't know what it could have been. But it was weird, though." Adelai whispered to her friend so that nobody would really notice at what the two were talking about.  
  
  
  
"Weird. I wish I knew what it was. I just want to get some sleep tonight, you know. Not be stuck up the entire night because I'm freaking out over the weirdo noise in the hallway again." Anzu sighed.  
  
  
  
"What are you two talking about, anyways?" Ryou said as he walked up to the two girls, whom were sitting at the end of the sofa all by themselves. He couldn't help but be suspicious at what the two girls were conspiring. You just never could tell what two teenagers would be up to.  
  
  
  
"Nothing really. You know. Girly things. Hair, makeup uhm, yeah. Girl things." Adelai smiled and nodded towards her boyfriend as he looked down on her.  
  
  
  
He knew that she was lying. He could always tell when she wasn't telling him the truth. "Adelai. Now really, what were you two talking about?" Ryou asked her sternly.  
  
  
  
"Like I said. Girly things." She smiled. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to go use the little girls room. I'll be back in a jiff!" Adelai said to Anzu and Ryou as she got up and ran off for the elevators.  
  
  
  
"Doesn't she realize that there are bathrooms on _this_ floor?" Ryou asked Anzu. She just shrugged her shoulders.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
"Now. Where was that noise coming from last night." Adelai said to herself as she wandered around the fourth floor of the hotel they were staying in. It was the floor they were staying on, and where they heard the noise the previous night. She looked around the hallway and found nothing out of the ordinary. That was, until she heard the noise again.  
  
  
  
Adelai quickly whipped around and shouted out at nobody in particular, "Who's there? Come out, will you?" She looked around the hallway and saw nobody.  
  
  
  
"Oh, dear Addy. I could never keep anything from you, now could I?" A sinister voice said from behind a doorway. And out stepped Nira. What fun could this be?  
  
  
  
"Nira? Why are you here? And I thought I told you to leave me alone . . . ." Adelai asked the redhead.  
  
  
  
"Oh, why would I ever do such a thing like that? You know how much I care for you." Nira walked closer to Adelai.  
  
  
  
Adelai had no clue what to do at that moment, so she found herself backing up into a wall. "Just, leave me alone!" She found herself shouting towards the other figure.  
  
  
  
"I would never do that. Never, Addy." Nira grinned at the shorter form.  
  
  
  
"What are you talking about? Just go away!" Adelai screamed. She heard footsteps coming her way. She didn't care who it was, just so it was somebody who would be able to help her out.  
  
  
  
"You know what I'm talking about, Adelai. You honestly _know_ what I'm talking about . . ." Nira said to the girl as she walked closer to her.  
  
  
  
The footsteps that were heard coming from the stairway turned out to be Ryou. But, it didn't seem to be Ryou anymore.  
  
  
  
\\ Yami! How could I forget about him? He got rid of Nira for me once, maybe he can do it again! //  
  
  
  
Nira also heard the footsteps and looked over at the figure. "Go away! You're not wanted here. Besides, you're not in this conversation." She sneered at Yami Bakura.  
  
  
  
"Oh. But that's what you think, you wretched excuse for a human." Yami Bakura looked over at Nira and Adelai. He saw Adelai backed up into a wall, with Nira slowly walking closer to her.  
  
  
  
\\ I'm not sure _why_ I am doing this, but I know Ryou really cares for this girl. And, well, oh hell. At least I get to kick this other girl's ass in the meantime! //  
  
  
  
Yami Bakura walked over to the two girls. "Now, how about we play a little game, shall we?" He asked Nira.  
  
  
  
Nira stepped away from Adelai and walked over to Yami Bakura. "I don't have time to play games, _child_." She told him.  
  
  
  
"Oh, I'm sure you'll like this one." Yami Bakura grinned broadly as he walked up to Nira. "You're in for a real treat!" He laughed manically.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
Adelai awoke on her bed in the hotel room that night. She didn't know how on Earth she got there in the first place. But she looked around the room and found the three other girls asleep in their beds. Nothing seemed out of place.  
  
  
  
And what happened with Nira? And Yami Bakura? What did he do to her? Adelai couldn't help but wonder at this. The last thing she remembered was herself, she was backed up against a wall, and Yami Bakura showed up. Adelai didn't remember anything after the incident. Maybe Yami changed back into Ryou and he brought me back here? Adelai wished she knew the answer to this.  
  
  
  
\\ Guess I'll find out in the morning. //  
  
  
  
And with that, Adelai fell back to sleep on her bed.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
"Just you wait, Addy. Just you wait to find out who killed your precious friend all those years ago." Nira could be heard laughing from the Shadow Realm.  
  
  
  
To Be Continued!!  
  
Oooo! Cliffhanger. XD So sad. I'm terribly sorry that this is a bit short. I wrote this in about an hour or so. And I was being forced to write this anyhow. So sorry if it's not that great, either. I need some more reviews for this story! Help me out here!! It would be a nice Christmas present, you know. :B  
  
  
  
Thomas: You're getting a lot for Christmas anyways. You know this.  
  
Kenji: I know. Most of its anime and Morning Musume related! XD I can't help myself!  
  
Thomas: -_- You're pathetic.  
  
Kenji: I know! *listening to morning musume now* :D  
  
Nuriko: You just can't help yourself, can you? And are we going to still cosplay as them?  
  
Kenji: Yep. XD I think we're going to do 'I Wish' or 'Ren-ai Revolution 21'. I have pictures of both now.  
  
Nuriko: Yes!  
  
Malik: -_-; Help me, please.  
  
  
  
Please, don't forget to review! Make things all sparkly for me! Now, I'm off to go watch Austin Powers in Goldmember! XD Jaa! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! REVIEW! 


	11. Chapter XI

Here's the Eleventh Chapter of Shooting Star!! XD I'm updating two days in a row. ^_^v I really don't have anything else to do, and I got a few ideas for this fic. So, I thought I would hide out in my room and type this up! I'm not sure when I'm going to finish this fic up, but it might be soon. I don't know. Does anybody actually like this story, at all?  
  
Baku-chan: I like it!  
  
  
  
Kenji: Okay, I know _you_ like it. But, I mean, everyone else out there in reading land!  
  
  
  
Nuriko: Are you okay? *sneeze*  
  
  
  
Kenji: Nuri-chan, I think you should go back to beeed!  
  
  
  
Nuriko: Nooo. Must stare . . . at . . . HYUKIE! *flops over*  
  
  
  
Ryou Bakura: Are you going to kill Adelai?  
  
  
  
Kenji: Where did that come from? And I won't tell you. :D I am not allowed to reveal my secrets.  
  
  
  
Ryou Bakura: -_- No comment.  
  
  
  
Please, don't forget to review, either! Reviews make me happy! XD  
  
  
  
Shooting Star  
  
  
  
Chapter 11  
  
  
  
"Come on, Adelai! Today's our only free day! We need to go and do _something_ relatively interesting!" Anzu got on Adelai's bed and began to shake her friend aimlessly.  
  
  
  
Adelai didn't want to wake up. She was quite content in her hotel bed, and it was warm, too. She didn't want to get out of the bed and find herself cold again. "Do I have to get up?" She groaned as she opened her eyes and put her hands over them, rubbing the sleep that was still left in them.  
  
  
  
"Yes! We should get out of here before the guys. We could have an all girls day!" Anzu said as she saw Adelai stumble out of bed and hobble over to their bathroom that they shared with Hikaru and Naoki. "Is that alright with you?" Anzu asked her friend.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, I guess it's alright with me. What do you want to do?" Adelai said from behind the closed bathroom door as she was trying to get herself ready and dressed so they could get out of the hotel before anybody else.  
  
  
  
"I don't know. Go visit where you lived, maybe? I always wanted to see where you grew up." Anzu said as Adelai emerged from the bathroom, ready to get going.  
  
  
  
"I don't know. We'll see when we get out. Are you ready?" Adelai asked Anzu quietly, trying not to wake up Naoki and Hikaru.  
  
  
  
"Yep!" Anzu said as she grabbed Adelai's hand and began to walk to the door. "Now, we need to make sure that nobody sees us . . ." She whispered to Adelai. "Don't want the guys following us and spoiling our girls day out." She grinned as she peeked down both sides of the hallway and saw nobody. "Now is our chance!" She kept a hold of Adelai's hand and began to run towards the elevators.  
  
  
  
The two girls made it to the main floor perfectly. No incidents with anybody they knew, that was, until they got off of the elevator and saw Ryou and Yuugi sitting in two chairs by the door, which was their only way out of the hotel.  
  
  
  
"Damn. What are we going to do?" Anzu asked Adelai.  
  
  
  
"How the hell am I supposed to know? I don't know what to do. Distract them why don't you?" Adelai said.  
  
  
  
"No! You do it!" Anzu told Adelai.  
  
  
  
"We'll just have to wait it out. Don't want them to catch us, you know." Adelai said as they snuck around the corner to keep a lookout for the two.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
"I wonder what we're going to be doing today, you have any clue Ryou?" Yuugi asked his friend from the chair he was sitting in.  
  
  
  
"Nope. I have no clue. Maybe we can ask the girls if they would like to do something with us?" Ryou asked Yuugi.  
  
  
  
"Good idea. Let's go see if they're up. They should be up now. Those two don't sleep forever, at least I don't think so." Yuugi laughed as he and Ryou stood up and walked over to the elevators.  
  
  
  
Adelai and Anzu quickly shuffled away from the elevators and hid behind a tree. Anzu had to stand in front of Adelai because Adelai's hair would've been able to be seen from behind the tree. Since her hair was so bright, almost anybody could see it no matter what.  
  
  
  
As soon as they saw Ryou and Yuugi board the elevator and the doors closed in front of their eyes. Anzu and Adelai quickly ran out of the hotel and down the road to their destination: Adelai's old neighborhood.  
  
  
  
"Are you sure you want to go here?" Adelai asked Anzu.  
  
  
  
"Of course! It would be cool, wouldn't it?" Anzu asked her merrily.  
  
  
  
"I don't know. I guess so?" Adelai shrugged her shoulders as they continued to walk down the road towards where she used to live when she was younger.  
  
  
  
They turned on one of the streets at the bottom of the steep hill and began to walk down the road. "I lived on this street." Adelai told Anzu as she began to look at all of the houses that were still there.  
  
  
  
"Really? You used to live in a pretty cool neighborhood. Did you go to school with anybody on this street?" Anzu asked Adelai intently.  
  
  
  
"Yeah. About 10 of us on this street went to the same school. And only four of us were the same age. My age. Can you guess who one of those people were?" Adelai asked Anzu inquisitively.  
  
  
  
"Nira?" Anzu answered her friend.  
  
  
  
"How did you guess? Of course it was her. I hate her so much." Adelai shivered against the wind that was blowing towards them.  
  
  
  
"Do you want to leave? I think we should go back to the hotel or something. Let's go." Anzu said to Adelai as she turned around. But Adelai wasn't following her lead. She was still in the same spot as she was before. "Adelai? Are you coming or what?" She asked her.  
  
  
  
"I'll be there. I'm getting there." Adelai said as she took one last look around and began to walk towards Anzu.  
  
  
  
"Hey, wait a minute. Who said you could leave so soon?" Adelai heard that voice again. She turned around and came face to face with Nira. "Why would you want to leave your dear friend so soon, Addy?" She grinned broadly at the two girls standing before her.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
  
  
"Well, where did those two go?" Ryou said as he stood in the hallway waiting for Yuugi's news.  
  
  
  
"Ryou! Did you find them anywhere?" Yuugi asked as he came running up to the taller boy.  
  
  
  
"No. I couldn't find them anywhere. I even asked Hikaru and Naoki if they saw them. They knew nothing about their whereabouts. Maybe they just went out and they'll be back soon?" Ryou said to Yuugi as they stood next to each other by the wall.  
  
  
  
"Maybe they went somewhere, eh. Maybe Nira found them?" Yuugi started muttering under his breath.  
  
  
  
"Nira? I though . . . Wait a minute. My Yami took care of her. She can't be around still can she?" Ryou asked Yuugi as they began to walk down the hallway together.  
  
  
  
"Oh? Really? Maybe he really didn't 'get rid of her', you know?" Yuugi said to Ryou as they stopped walking along the hallway and Ryou put a hand to his head.  
  
  
  
"But where could they be. This is Adelai's hometown. Where do you think she would end up going here anyways?" He said out loud to himself.  
  
  
  
"If I were Adelai, and I got to come back home, I would go see my _home_. Don't you think she probably went to her old house, Ryou?" Yuugi said quietly to his friend.  
  
  
  
"You're probably right. And why couldn't I think of that myself?" Ryou scolded himself as he and Yuugi ran towards the elevators. The doors closed in front of them, and they began to head down to the main floor. "All we have to do is find those two before Nira gets to them." Ryou said as the two doors opened again and they both ran towards the exit and outside.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
  
  
"Are we in the right place?" Ryou asked Yuugi as they turned on a road and were running down the pavement like lunatics. "Isn't this where her house should be?" He asked again.  
  
  
  
Yuugi looked down at the paper in his hand that stated the address of Adelai's old house and he checked out the street sign as they ran past it. "Yep. This is the right place. Well, it should be anyways. Now, which one is her house?" He looked around the two.  
  
  
  
None of the houses were marked by numbers. This was going to make a few things difficult for them on their search.  
  
  
  
"I don't know. I honestly have no idea where we are going." Ryou said as he began to look around the pavement that they were standing on. Something didn't seem right to him. Was pavement normally red? Wait a minute, red? "Yuugi, look at the ground." He asked his shorter friend.  
  
  
  
Yuugi looked down around his feet and he saw the same red stuff. "What is this?! Road kill or something . . ." Yuugi asked himself as he stepped away from the red marks on the road.  
  
  
  
"I highly doubt it's road kill. Do you see anything lying around dead? I didn't think so." Ryou was beginning to get frustrated. He didn't know where Adelai _or_ Anzu were at the moment. But he didn't like this one bit. Something didn't seem right at all. "I think that's blood, Yuugi." He said to his friend.  
  
  
  
Yuugi stared at Ryou with widened eyes. "Are you serious?" He asked him again.  
  
  
  
"Yes, I'm afraid to admit it though. I just hope we're not too late." He said as he continued to study the pavement around them again. He noticed that the trail of blood led down the road and to a house at the very end of a grouping of trees. "Maybe they're there!" Ryou said to Yuugi as he started running towards the house he pointed to.  
  
  
  
"I hope you're right." Yuugi sighed as he ran after Ryou and towards their destination.  
  
  
  
****  
  
  
  
  
  
Yuugi and Ryou made it to the house in a matter of seconds. They walked up to the front door and noticed that the door was unlocked. Quietly, Ryou put his hand on the door and opened it slowly. He stuck his head inside and began to look at his surroundings. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. They were in somebody's living room. And make that a complete strangers living room.  
  
  
  
"Ryou, I think I heard something." Yuugi whispered to Ryou as he nodded at him.  
  
  
  
Ryou began to look frustrated. He let Yuugi lead him to whatever it was that he was hearing and they noticed the trail of blood led to another door.  
  
  
  
Ryou slowly brushed past Yuugi and opened the door faintly. He didn't want to surprise anybody by telling them that they were here and snooping around a complete strangers house.  
  
  
  
He looked down the stairs. It led to a basement. He hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, well, not yet anyways. He put his right foot on the first step and began to hear a muffled noise. That was probably what Yuugi was hearing before. Speaking of Yuugi, he was still behind him on the stairway, and Ryou noticed he was a bit taller than usual.  
  
  
  
\\ Yami Yuugi. //  
  
  
  
He could come in handy you know. And it was a good idea. But Ryou was still afraid to let _his_ Yami out. But since this probably was going to be a life or death situation, he decided to let his Yami have a little bit of freedom.  
  
  
  
Yami Bakura continued to walk down the stairway with Yami Yuugi still following behind him. They reached the bottom of the stairway and they looked around to see if anybody was down here.  
  
  
  
"Yuugi! Bakura! I am so glad to see you two here!!" A voice said from a corner of the basement.  
  
  
  
The two men turned around and saw Anzu tied up in a corner. But they didn't see Adelai.  
  
  
  
"Anzu, are you alright?" Yami Yuugi asked Anzu as he ran over to her and quickly began to untie her from her bonds.  
  
  
  
"Yeah. I'm fine. But I wouldn't be so sure about Adelai." Anzu said with a worried look on her face.  
  
  
  
"What do you mean?" Yami Bakura spoke up.  
  
  
  
"Nira. I don't honestly know all of the details yet. But I do remember that when we were leaving the street up there, somebody grabbed us. And Adelai screamed. I wasn't sure why until I looked at the ground below us. She was bleeding. I still don't know what happened to her to make her do that." Anzu shuttered slightly as Yami Bakura and Yami Yuugi exchanged glances. As much as those two hated each other, they decided to work together for _this time only_.  
  
  
  
"We've got to find Adelai. And Nira. We have to get rid of her once and for all." Yami Yuugi said to the tomb robber.  
  
  
  
"I do hate to admit it. But you're right. Ryou would be very upset with me if I didn't do something about this." Yami Bakura frowned as the two Yami's glared at each other. They blinked at each other for a moment, than Yami Bakura began to walk over to the basement door that led outside into the house's backyard.  
  
  
  
His eyes widened for the first time in ages. He saw outside Nira and Adelai. They were fighting. And not just ordinary fighting. They were both out for blood. And it looked like Adelai was losing a lot of that.  
  
  
  
Yami Bakura stood back for a moment. He was going to do this for his aibou. He wanted to show him that he wasn't all cruel and unmanageable as he thought he was. He was going to help put and end to this. Right now.  
  
  
  
To Be Continued!!  
  
Not again. X_x; I don't think this chapter was very good. I wrote it while I was in a bit of a bad mood. You know how parents can be. I say one thing, and they take it another way. -_-; Help me, please.  
  
  
  
Thomas: You're losing it, you know. You've really lost it.  
  
  
  
Kenji: Shut up, will you? Or I will _never_ write that fic for you. Never!! *cackle*  
  
  
  
Thomas: o_o! Okay, I will be going now. You will be able to find me in the basement playing dance dance revolution with Alucard.  
  
  
  
Nuriko: They've been down there all day. O_o;  
  
  
  
Kenji: I know, and it's beginning to frighten me.  
  
  
  
Don't forget to review, please! I love reviews. XD Besides, they actually help me along here. I could really use some more! You can make it my Christmas present. :B Hehe. Merry Christmas, again! Thank you for reading!! 


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